Whether viewed through an economic or a sociocultural lens, the live sector is crucial for all music ecosystem players. However, data gaps make its impact difficult to prove. The 2024 European Live Music Census – part of the Horizon Europe project OpenMusE (https://www.openmuse.eu/) – is a "snapshot" of musical activity within a 24-hour period in Heidelberg and Mannheim (Germany),Helsinki (Finland),Vilnius (Lithuania),and Lviv (Ukraine). It entails a comprehensive mapping of live music venues followed by two flash surveys: one of audiences, the other of venues. Adapting a methodology developed in the 2017 UK Live Music Census, the study captures the economic value that live music brings to a city, drivers and barriers to live music attendance, challenges facing venues, and the social and cultural importance of live music.

By bringing diverse stakeholders one step closer to such data, the OpenMusE Consortium hopes to help live music ecosystems across Europe to thrive. In contrast to prior music census projects, the data collection and analysis toolkit was designed to be streamlined and transferable: it can be implemented by a small team, on a small budget, with open-source technology, and without the need for a large volunteer force.



The 2024 European Live Music Census team and OpenMusE Consortium are especially interested in:

- Workshopping our data collection strategies and co-creating application cases
- Developing strategies for how to translate our data into live-music-friendly policy concepts or data-driven business models
- Meeting partners who might be interested in implementing a 2025 Live Music Census in their cities, towns, or regions
- As a team of experienced researchers and project managers, we are also very open to future collaborative projects, whether on the national or international level!