I came across a blog post about how unpopular the blues is in America. He mentioned one of the "makeover" TV show host suggested a blues club to switch to other type of music in order to be more viable because a study found that only 3% of American claimed blues as their favorite music genre. (Well, JJ Blues didn't need this TV show host's advice and "converted" already) I don't know if that study matters that much. As much as I like blues (or metal or classical for that matter) I won't claim that as my favorite music genre though. Another thing mentioned by that blog post was the harp (a.k.a. blues harmonica) player Paul Oscher from the legendary Muddy Waters band performed for free in a suburb city of Austin Texas. However, some readers pointed out in the comments that it wasn't that bad: Oscher actually performed at other shows that charge for admission. Anyway, blues and blues club hopefully will survive.
So, how about jazz? Does it have better stats? I found this article from 1999, which quoted numbers from a 1992 study (that's 20+ years ago) Jazz lovers came in as 5% compared to Blues' 3%. I was trying to look for that number from the 2012 study but I couldn't seem to find it. The only jazz related number is that 8.1% of U.S. adults have attended a jazz concert. And that number went up from 7.8% in 2008. I guess this is encouraging.
So, how about jazz? Does it have better stats? I found this article from 1999, which quoted numbers from a 1992 study (that's 20+ years ago) Jazz lovers came in as 5% compared to Blues' 3%. I was trying to look for that number from the 2012 study but I couldn't seem to find it. The only jazz related number is that 8.1% of U.S. adults have attended a jazz concert. And that number went up from 7.8% in 2008. I guess this is encouraging.
