In October 2009, the nonprofit Future of Music Coalition posted a blog entry called The 29 Streams, which laid out all of the possible revenue streams available to composers, recording artists, performers, session musicians and teachers based on the contours of copyright law and business practice. The list, which has been re-blogged and re-posted hundreds of times over the past two years, was heralded as the go-to inventory of revenue streams for musicians.

But this blog post was just the beginning of a much more ambitious project. In 2010, FMC launched Artist Revenue Streams, a multi-method research initiative that’s examining just how many revenue streams musicians are relying, and if the ratio among revenue streams has changed over time, and why.

The project employs three methodologies: in-depth interviews with more than 25 different types of musicians — from jazz performers, to classical players, TV and film composers, Nashville songwriters, rockers and hip hop artists; financial snapshots that show individual artists’ revenue pies in any given year; and a wide ranging online survey in which they hope thousands of musicians will participate in fall 2011.

Future of Music Coalition is urging musicians and composers of all types — from session players to songwriters, from self-released rockers to major label stars — to participate in the online survey that will be available nationwide in September - October 2011.  Given the crazy configuration of the music industry, this survey isn’t meant for the faint-hearted — it asks questions about specific revenue streams, and why your earnings may have increased or decreased over the past five years. But have no fear: all participants are anonymous. The data will be compiled and analyzed, and delivered back to musicians and music fans to help us all better understand the complex nature of being a creator in the 21st century.

Do your part and contribute to the project. Take the survey here. http://futureofmusic.org/ars.  Then tell ten of your musician and composers friend to do the same.  Your participation is the key to its success.