A new census aims to turn Idaho’s growing music scene into real data
If you’ve been to a local concert in Boise recently, you’ve probably noticed that the music scene feels bigger than ever. Between packed venues, festivals and more local artists popping up, it’s clear something bigger is happening in Idaho’s music world.
The problem is, no one actually knows how big it is. That’s where the Idaho Music Census comes in.
The census is part of a larger research project called Amplifying Impact, an initiative focused on studying Idaho’s creative industries and using data to understand how to better support them. The project looks at how music and other creative fields contribute to the state’s economy, culture and community development.
“It’s the first kind of project in the state of Idaho to collect data through surveys of businesses and music creatives,” said Shavonne Bostaph, a student researcher involved with the project. “We’re trying to better understand the economic and cultural impacts of Idaho’s music ecosystem as a whole.”
Compared to many other states, Idaho still lacks a clear, data-driven understanding of its music industry. Without that information, much of the conversation so far has been based on observation rather than evidence.
“There’s no economic data. There’s no demographic data,” said Matthew Wordell, another researcher involved in building the census. “Up until this point, it’s all anecdotal … this is an attempt to create something empirical.”
To change that, the survey asks a wide range of questions designed to capture what is going on behind the scenes in the state’s music community.
Some of those questions get into financial reality, like how much artists are earning and why so many creatives struggle to make a living working in music.
“Why does it seem like music creatives can’t afford to pursue their work full time?” Bostaph emphasized. “Why do they have to work multiple jobs just to support themselves?”
Other questions look at audience behavior, local venues and which parts of the state are seeing growth in their music communities.
Another major goal of the census is to understand what support is needed for music outside of the city, where opportunities are often limited and less visible.
“We’re trying to figure out how we can stimulate areas like Moscow, Pocatello, Twin Falls,” Bostaph said. “Places that don’t necessarily have the same reach or influence as Boise.”
That gap is something many Idaho musicians already feel. In smaller cities, venues can be incredibly limited, and opportunities can be harder to come by.
The Idaho Music Census reflects that reality by not limiting its focus to musicians.
“Honestly, anybody in Idaho should take the census,” Bostaph said. “If you go to shows, if you’re a business owner, if you teach music … it all impacts the ecosystem.”
Vanessa Fry, a Boise State faculty member and the project’s principal investigator, said the census is built on long-standing collaboration between several key groups in Idaho’s music community.
“We’ve been engaging in some way shape or form in different types of collaboration between Duck Club, Treefort and the university for many years,” Fry said.
She explained that those participants have helped shape many projects like this, bringing together academic research and real-world music industry experience. That mix of perspectives allows the census to move beyond individual stories and into a broader understanding of how Idaho’s music landscape actually functions.
“It’s a way for us to see what’s going well, what the challenges are, the opportunities are to address those challenges and help scale the work that they’re already doing in the state,” she said.
The end goal is simple: turn lived experience into measurable data that can help shape the future of Idaho’s music industry.
