The Business of Writing Musicals Survey Results These are April 2013 final results taken from a survey attached to an event called The Business of Writing Musicals that The Larder co-organised with the Writers Guild of Great Britain and the Musicians Union. Which writing discipline/s are relevant to you? Bookwriter: 47 Composer: 47 Librettist: 37 Lyricist: 61 Playwright: 33 Songwriter: 47 Roughly how many shows or pieces have you written in total? One or two: 32 Four or five: 22 About a dozen in total: 13 At least one a year: 4 More than one a year: 4 Full-time multiple projects on the go: 3 How long have you been writing musicals? 1-2 yrs: 22 2-5 yrs: 16 5-10 yrs: 15 10-20 yrs: 15 20+ yrs: 10 Roughly how much income have you generated from your musical writing in that time? It usually costs money to write musicals: 35 Pretty much break even: 9 Pocket change: 3 Expenses covered for the show in question: 7 Expenses covered for writing in general: 4 Supported living costs during specific show: 9 Supported living costs up to 1 year: 2 Supported living costs for more than a year: 3 Set me up for life: 0 Woohoo! : 1 Rather not say: 5 In which country do you predominantly live and work? UK / England: 74 Australia: 1 Netherlands: 1 Spain: 1
In which other countries have you had work developed / produced? Answered: 45 Abu Dhabi: 1 Asia: 1 Australia: 1 Austria: 1 Canada: 1 Denmark: 1 Dubai: 1 Eire: 2 France: 1 Gibraltar: 1 Hungary: 1 Japan: 1 Qatar: 1 Sharjah: 1 South Africa: 1 South Korea: 1 Syria: 1 USA: 16 Venezuela: 1 Form Answered: 72 Skipped: 6 Book musical: 60 Cabaret: 23 Cantata: 2 Chamber Musical: 13 Concept album: 12 Music theatre: 43 Opera: 4 Operetta: 4 Song cycle: 14 Panto: 1 Rock opera: 1 Revue: 1 Mass: 1 Musical in a day: 1 Storyworld / open space: 1 Length Answered: 72 Skipped: 6 Micro musical (up to 15 mins): 14 Mini musical (15-45 mins): 18 One-act musical (45-90 mins): 32 Two-act musical (90+ mins): 56 Site-specific / non-prosc arch size Answered: 62 Skipped: 16 Small scale: 38 Mid-scale: 34 Large scale: 14
Staging Answered: 61 Skipped: 17 End on: 28 Flash mob: 2 In the round: 9 Promenade: 9 Proscenium arch: 40 Site-specific: 13 Thrust: 13 Traverse: 5 Methods Answered: 60 Skipped: 18 Aerial: 2 Clowning: 2 Devising: 13 Improvising: 9 Mine: 0 Puppetry: 8 Script & score: 58 Verbatim: 1 Narrative Answered: 65 Skipped: 13 Abstract: 6 Narrative-led: 60 Non-narrative: 13 Dance Answered: 63 Skipped: 13 Dance-oriented: 6 Song & Dance: 50 Something in-between: 1 Non-dance: 28 Dance as stage fight: 1 Score Answered: 65 Skipped: 13 Soundscape: 11 Spoken lyric: 14 Recitative: 15 Scene to song: 56 Sung-through: 24 Underscore: 32 Rap: 1 Audience Engagement Answered: 64 Skipped: 14 Fourth wall: 58 Audience participation: 12 Interactive with no specific goal: 9 Interactive with specific goal: eg: a gaming element: 2 Immersive: 9
Audience age range Answered: 64 Skipped: 14 0-4 yrs: 0 4-7 yrs: 8 7-12 yrs: 17 Pre-teen: 18 Teen: 24 Young adult: 36 Adult: 56 Third age / elderly: 15 Family: 37 Other specific target audience Answered: 2 Skipped: 76 Student audiences: 1 Black audiences: 1 Have you written for a specific age of performer? Answered: 28 Skipped: 50 0-4 yrs: 0 4-7 yrs: 3 7-12 yrs: 7 Pre-teen: 3 Teen: 11 Young adult: 23 Third age / elderly: 10 How many live performance development stages have you experienced, either selfproduced, or produced by others? Answered: 61 Skipped: 17 Informal reading with friends: 43 (self), 7 (others), total respondents: 44 Professional dramaturgy: 16 (self), 17 (others), total respondents: 27 Formal reading with performers: 31 (self), 27 (others), total respondents: 47 Day-long workshop: 16 (self), 12 (others), total respondents: 23 Multi-day workshop: 11 (self), 18 (others), total respondents: 27 Week-long+ workshop: 10 (self), 23 (others), total respondents: 29 Staged reading: 17 (self), 27 (others), total respondents: 37 How many staged productions have you experienced, either self-produced, or produced by others? Answered: 59 Skipped: 19 Amateur / community production: 23 (self), 22 (others), total respondents: 38 Fringe production: 24 (self), 19 (others), total respondents: 36 Studio production: 12 (self), 14 (others), total respondents: 24 Studio touring production: 4 (self), 3 (others), total respondents: 6 Festival production: 12 (self), 18 (others), total respondents: 25 Regional theatre production: 6 (self), 17 (others), total respondents: 20 No 1 touring production: 3 (self), 4 (others), total respondents: 6 First class / West End production: 1 (self), 14 (others), total respondents: 8 Overseas production: 1 (self), 14 (others), total respondents: 14 Site-specific: 6 (self), 5 (others), total respondents: 9 University production: 2
Have you received a paid commission / option? Answered: 66 Skipped: 12 0-500: 10 500-1,000: 3 1,000-5,000: 14 5,000-10,000: 5 10,000+: 5 No: 34 Have you received an unpaid commission / option? Answered: 36 Skipped: 42 One: 18 Several: 15 Many: 3 Have you participated in a royalty pool? Answered: 17 Skipped: 61 One: 11 Several: 4 Many: 2 Have you participated in profit-share or other sharing system? Answered: 19 Skipped: 59 One: 8 Several: 10 Many: 1 Do you receive income from published works? Answered: 60 Skipped: 18 Yes: 22 No: 38 Have you ever received financial support for the development or production of new musical theatre from any of the following funding bodies? Answered: 15 Skipped: 63 Arts Council England (eg: Grants For The Arts): 10 Local council funding: 2 Arts funding organisation: 6 Have you signed a stage publishing agreement with any of the following? Answered: 9 Skipped: 69 Samuel French Ltd (UK): 3 Samuel French Inc (USA): 5 Music Theatre International (USA): 0 Josef Weinberger (UK): 3 Stagescripts Ltd: 1 A&C Black / Mondo: 1 Perfect Pitch: 1 YMT:UK: 1 Yes, but would rather not say who: 1
Have you signed a music publishing agreement? Answered: 57 Skipped: 21 Yes: 13 No: 44 Have you had a show cast album professionally recorded? Answered: 59 Skipped: 19 Yes: 13 No: 46 Have you ever signed any of the following? Answered: 40 Skipped: 38 Adaptation agreement: 3 Agent / solicitor agreement: 10 Cast album recording contract: 2 Collaboration agreement: 13 Development process agreement: 11 Music publishing contract: 11 Production contract, commission (i.e.: producer brings writer existing project): 12 Production contract, option (i.e.: writer brings producer existing contract): 13 Stage publishing contract: 9 Do you feel equipped and able to conduct your own negotiations when dealing with contracts / agreements? Answered: 58 Skipped: 20 I do conduct my own negotiations, and I feel equipped and able to do so: 7 I do conduct my own negotiations, but I don t feel that I have the right knowledge to do so: 14 I do conduct my own negotiations, but I don t feel comfortable doing so: 11 I don t conduct my own negotiations, but I have someone who is equipped and able to do it for me: 13 I don t conduct my own negotiations because I haven t yet had the opportunity to do so: 13 What kind of recorded media musicals have you written / collaborated on? (produced or otherwise) Answered: 19 Skipped: 59 Audio, books: 3 Audio, podcast: 2 Audio, radio: 2 Blog: 2 Documentary film: 1 Feature film: 2 Multimedia: 3 Podcast: 5 Radio: 9 Short film: 2 Social media: 3 Transmedia: 1 TV documentary: 0 TV drama: 0 Vlog (online video blog): 0 WebTV: 0
Have you collaborated with any of the following academic courses: Answered: 28 Skipped: 50 ANMT (USA): 2 ASCAP workshop (USA): 1 BMI workshop (USA): 0 BML workshop: 7 Goldsmiths College, Musical Theatre MA (writing strand): 8 Grad Musical Theatre Writing MFA, New York University: 2 MMD workshops / seminars: 21 Theatre Building Chicago: 2 Chris Grady dot org Month of Sundays: 2 Have you collaborated with any of the following new musical development organisations: Answered: 29 Skipped: 49 MMD (Mercury Musical Developments): 24 NAMT (National Alliance for Musical Theatre): 1 National Theatre Studio: 5 NYMT (National Youth Music Theatre): 1 NYMF (New York Musical Theatre Festival): 1 Perfect Pitch: 9 YMT (Youth Music Theatre UK): 6 Are you a member of any British organisation that represents / supports writers? Answered: 49 Skipped: 29 Guild of Songwriters and Composers (UK): 1 Mercury Musical Developments (MMD): 41 Musicians Union: 10 Writers Guild: 10 If not, would you consider joining any of the following British organisations? Answered: 42 Skipped: 36 Guild of Songwriters and Composers (UK): 28 Mercury Musical Developments (MMD): 12 Musicians Union: 11 Writers Guild: 24