2022 AAM Membership Survey Findings

At the end of 2022 the AAM commissioned our annual Members Survey - the latest in a series of annual survey studies, and the first to be conducted by staff at the University of Melbourne. These surveys have highlighted how the role of the music artist manager, and their employment conditions, has been changing radically.

In addition to this survey, in 2022 the AAM produced a conference panel at BIGSOUND; Sustainable Relationships? The Value of Management Partnerships. The premise of this panel discussion was the belief that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, music artist managers were facing a crisis of sustainability and that this has been made more challenging since 2020. 

The survey results described in this report form part of a larger ongoing research project that is using a multi-method approach, and includes individual interviews and focus groups with professionals in the field. As the University of Melbourne plans to interview more music artist managers, other industry stakeholders and conduct focus groups, this report only features the survey data. (77 AAM members completed this 2022 survey.)

Australian music artist managers have more responsibilities now than they ever have before, yet their financial structures have remained little changed for decades. Many people and companies in the music ecosystem benefit from the work of good music artist managers (see the AAM's 'Social Return on Investment Model for Artist Managers' research piece) and commercially, it is in their best interests to help ensure that the management sector is sustainable.

This survey has shed light on the complex ways in which music artist management functions as an essential component of the music industries. When analysing this survey data, a paradox became evident in the juxtaposition of two extremes; 1) that music artist managers were ‘extremely undervalued/poorly remunerated’, and 2) that they have also ‘never been more important’.

The larger research project from which this report draws is evaluating these challenges and is exploring ideas on how to fortify this important artist-management cog in the popular music business ecology. This overall research project will culminate with the publication of a shortform book entitled Music Artist Managers: Remuneration and Retainment in the Popular Music Business through Routledge (expected late 2023 / early 2024). The University of Melbourne will be conducting further one-on-one interviews and focus groups over the coming months to support the next stages of this research.