Metrics on Carnatic Music

Miscellaneous topics on Carnatic music
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mahesh3
Posts: 584
Joined: 06 Feb 2010, 21:32

Metrics on Carnatic Music

Post by mahesh3 »

I have recently started to think a lot more about the broader carnatic space. I am trying to come up with a model that can provide some basic metrics:

How many worldwide listeners of carnatic music? Active/Passive number of participating audience members?
This forum has about 7000 members - is it a rough proxy representation? That seems a terribly puny number - even if one estimates the forum represents only 20% of the worldwide carnatic diaspora.
How many practicing musicians? Full-time plus part time? Do we have a social system for the musicians or a meritocracy?
Why is it that even poor cover versions of poor film music made by part time-singers have more views, more comments, more subscribers on youtube than the best videos of the the best/popular carnatic musicians?

mahavishnu
Posts: 3341
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56

Re: Metrics on Carnatic Music

Post by mahavishnu »

Interesting questions, Mahesh. But difficult ones to get reliable numbers on.

Unfortunately, there are so many confounds since internet-based viewership/membership stats can only capture a small segment of the CM world.

There was a thread on a similar topic and VK had made some interesting projections about global numbers. But the total numbers still appeared very small. How do people in economics make estimates like this?

VK RAMAN
Posts: 5009
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:29

Re: Metrics on Carnatic Music

Post by VK RAMAN »

All the on line teachers, village, district, county music teachers should participate in this study. Such student in majority of cases do not participate in concerts or listen to online music. Moreover, in India in all villages there are two or three music teachers or in cities every street will have two or three teachers either of vocal or instruments. These are very difficult to quantify without a detailed census. I wish in the next census there is some question related CM to capture that data (a dream of tall order)

mahesh3
Posts: 584
Joined: 06 Feb 2010, 21:32

Re: Metrics on Carnatic Music

Post by mahesh3 »

VK RAMAN wrote:All the on line teachers, village, district, county music teachers should participate in this study.

I wish in the next census there is some question related CM to capture that data (a dream of tall order)
Sorry - I don't think this is a practical approach. I want ballpark numbers - rather than any precision!

Also, MV - I started this exercise more as a means of getting some numbers - precision - to me is the next step. As long as the fundamental assumptions are reasonably OK - I'd be quite happy! I am looking for a global number - and clearly it's going to have caveats!

vasanthakokilam
Posts: 10958
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Re: Metrics on Carnatic Music

Post by vasanthakokilam »

Mahesh: The thread Mahavishnu is referring to is this: http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 87#p213187

I am not sure if that will answer your question but it is one methodology I used to estimate the numbers.

mahesh3
Posts: 584
Joined: 06 Feb 2010, 21:32

Re: Metrics on Carnatic Music

Post by mahesh3 »

Yea, I have seen that thread in the past. The 3% assumption of the total Chennai population is not the type of assumption I want to go with - because I'd rather have an assumption that is more bottom-up than top down. And, I am not looking for the total Chennai audience number either. Nevertheless, it was a nice try.

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