site.btaMusic Sector Mapped under Two-Year Project

An in-depth survey on the infrastructure, performing venues, education, careers and employment in Bulgaria’s music sector was conducted during a two-year large-scale project called Mapping the Music Sector in Bulgaria, implemented by the Bulgarian Music Association (BMA) with the support of the Prophon collective management organization, BMA Management Board Chair Hristo Yotsov told a news conference at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia on Thursday.

BMA Executive Director Mirena Staneva said the survey was aimed to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to help formulate policies that meet the needs of the music ecosystem; to take legislative and socio-economic measures; and to get a complete picture of existing music venues, festivals and funding programmes.

Separate component surveys examined the condition of the music sector in Bulgaria, the employment landscape in the industry and the sector’s contribution to the national economy.

The study shows that music venues across Bulgaria include 555 community centres, 302 cultural institutes, 222 outdoor stages and 174 private spaces. Schools for instrumentalists are the predominant type of music schools. A considerable portion of indoor music venues are spaces which were adapted for the purpose. Festivals, mainly folklore ones, account for one-third of public events in municipalities. There is insufficient information about private venues, Staneva said.

The challenges facing music artists in Bulgaria include lack of a national strategy, lack of regulation of music managers, no support for independent musicians, underfunding, scarcity of accessible venues, no support for young artists, limitations on the use of performing venues of cultural institutes, and outdated infrastructure at public institutes.

The BMA set forth a list of proposals to deal with these challenges. The association calls for equal rights in the public and independent segments of the music industry, a cultural policy in support of the independent segment, making funding facilities accessible to organizations and artists across Bulgaria, using adequate funding programmes with reasonable deadlines and opportunities for planning, programmes to fund music clubs and other performing venues, a programme to subsidize tickets to independent artists’ shows, a general increase in funding, and a law on patronage.

A mobile application called A Guide to Music Venues in Bulgaria was created under the project.