Study of Recording Artists (1980)

Investigators: Serge Denisoff and John Bridges

Population: Musicians

Identification method: Musicians identified as those with available public biographies obtained from record companies.

Sampling method: No surveys sent. Data were derived from available public biographies. Authors noted that a major portion of the sample was not comprised of super stars.

N and Response rate: N/A (N=667)

Publication: Denisoff, S. and Bridges, J. 1982. "Popular Music: Who Are the Recording Artists?" Journal of Communication, 32 (1): 132-142.

Summary: The study investigated the social characteristics of recording artists, covering a ten-year span based on biographies made available by recording companies. Denisoff and Bridges (1982) provide an interesting discussion of the sampling difficulties inherent in the project. They found that record companies had little archival information, print media had badly tainted information, the American Federation of Music files are unorganized and not open to full examination, and recording artists have historically poor response rates.