By Lucy Bevan, Music Editor
Amidst the often futile-feeling search for fellow band members, many musicians find themselves at a loss when a guitar ensemble feels like the only option. While it may be true that guitarists are not hard to find, has the UK really run out of drummers? Or are these aspiring musicians just looking in the wrong places?
Sam Salmon, founder of popular website find-a-musician.com (of which the name is self-explanatory) and his team put these questions to the test. Their report, based on findings from the website's marketplace activity, offers an insight into which musicians are most in-demand, where they're hiding, and for which genres they're most sought after.
In conversation with Sam, I was able to find out more about how the website came to be; the story is, as Sam himself describes it, ‘actually a bit unusual’.
Back in the mid-2000s, Sam began teaching himself the basics of web development. After building a solid foundation in IIS, HTML and PHP, his dad asked him to help attract visitors to his own football prediction website. This led to a fascination with the way in which Google decides which websites appear at the top of its search results. Needing a website of his own to test his ideas, Sam thought it would be good to create something genuinely useful, rather than simply trying to manipulate the search engine.
‘I’ve played guitar for years, and I knew how difficult it could be for ordinary amateur musicians to find other people to play with. I wasn’t looking for fame or a professional music career. I just wanted to find people to jam with,’ Sam told me.
His work paid off when the website did in fact start appearing at the top of Google's search results. Without spending a penny on advertising, the website had over 600 users within just weeks of its creation. ‘What had started as a little experiment suddenly became a real website with real people relying on it.’
Ironically, Sam admitted to me that the website has now become such a big part of his life that he has not ever had time to find bandmates himself.
So, with over 20 years of first-hand, real-life data on what musicians are looking for in fellow band mates, Sam's research is particularly useful.
Sam explained to me that he finds the difference between musicians being frequently wanted and actually difficult to find extremely interesting. For example, according to the report, drummers make up 20.1 per cent of wanted-role activity, compared to 6.9 per cent for keyboard players. However, when comparing the demand for these musicians relative to their availability, the gap narrows significantly: drummers had a ratio of 2.7x, with keyboard players just behind at 2.56x. Therefore, although drummers are significantly more sought-after than keyboard players, the latter may be almost as difficult to find relative to demand.
With this in mind, if you're thinking of starting a band, maybe focus on finding your drummer and keyboardist first. However, with bass guitarists ranking second for the most-wanted musicians - making up a considerable 17.5 per cent - they are not to be dismissed. On top of this, lead vocalists and lead guitarists also share the load, each accounting for 15.8 per cent of the demand.
So, if the search for particular musicians has proved difficult, can picking a genre make the start-up feel a little easier? Unsurprisingly, the data shows that rock comes out on top, taking up 17.3 per cent of bands on the platform. This isn't to say that in order to start a band, you need to be jamming out to Led Zeppelin at every rehearsal, but to get things going it may make the search less painful.
However, in comparison with the previous year's data, the report found some unexpected rises in popularity. Blues, for example, increased from 6.2 per cent to 7.2 per cent of selections, with pop also edging upwards from 10.4 per cent to 10.9 per cent.
Zoe Lieberman
So, the rumours are true. Drummers are hard to find, and rock bands continue to outshine any other genre when it comes to amateur bands. But with easily-accessible, free, online services like find-a-musician.com - where you can filter to your local area, wants, and needs - the search doesn't have to feel impossible.
Plus, if you're a student at the University of Bristol, there are a multitude of societies you can join to get involved in the student music scene. From blues to gig soc, BUMS (Bristol University Music Society) to MTB (Musical Theatre Bristol), kick-starting your music career at university has never been easier. Alternatively, what's stopping you from putting up a good old-fashioned poster?
There's no time like the present to learn the drums.
Featured image: Epigram / Lucy Bevan
Would you ever start a band?
