Texas music industry statistics show a large statewide economic footprint. In 2024, music-related business directly supported 71,385 permanent jobs and generated $11.327 billion in direct sales. When indirect and induced effects are included, the modeled business impact reached 145,855 jobs and $24.706 billion in sales. These figures cover Texas and distinguish direct activity from broader ripple effects.
Contents
- 2024 direct statewide footprint
- 2024 modeled impact
- 2022 direct activity
- 2022 modeled impact
- Pre-pandemic benchmark
- Austin music economy benchmarks
2024 direct statewide footprint
The latest statewide figures in the Texas Music Economic Impact | January 2025 report measure activity in 2024. The direct business footprint included 71,385 permanent jobs, $4.039 billion in annual earnings, and $11.327 billion in revenue or sales.
Education is separately identified in the same report. Music-related education directly supported 15,447 permanent jobs and generated $0.842 billion in annual earnings. This category helps show that the Texas music economy includes instruction and education alongside performance, production, venues, and other business activity.
Tourism is also measured as its own direct category. Music-related tourism generated $1.206 billion in direct revenue or sales in Texas in 2024. The supplied 2024 figures identify this tourism sales measure, while the statewide report also provides broader modeled tourism results below.
The direct measures answer a narrower question than total impact: what activity is attributed directly to the music-related category before supplier purchases, household spending, and other ripple effects are included? That distinction matters when comparing the numbers with the modeled totals.
2024 modeled impact
The January 2025 Texas report also models direct, indirect, and induced effects. For music-related business, the combined effect reached 145,855 permanent jobs, $8.121 billion in total earnings, and $24.706 billion in total revenue or sales. The modeled business activity generated $0.407 billion in Texas tax revenue.
Music-related education reached 24,476 permanent jobs after those effects. Its modeled impact totaled $1.510 billion in earnings, $4.132 billion in revenue or sales, and $0.076 billion in Texas tax revenue.
Music-related tourism reached 25,648 permanent jobs after direct, indirect, and induced effects. Its modeled totals were $0.853 billion in earnings, $2.827 billion in revenue or sales, and $0.081 billion in Texas tax revenue.
| 2024 category | Modeled jobs | Earnings | Revenue or sales | Texas tax revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music-related business | 145,855 | $8.121 billion | $24.706 billion | $0.407 billion |
| Music-related education | 24,476 | $1.510 billion | $4.132 billion | $0.076 billion |
| Music-related tourism | 25,648 | $0.853 billion | $2.827 billion | $0.081 billion |
These modeled categories should not be treated as a single undifferentiated job count. Business, education, and tourism are reported as separate parts of the impact analysis, and each total includes direct, indirect, and induced effects. The report’s measurement period is 2024, while its publication is identified as January 2025.
2022 direct activity
The The 2023 Economic Impact of Music in Texas report provides a 2022 comparison point. Music-related business directly supported 74,224 permanent jobs in Texas and generated $3.726 billion in direct annual earnings. Direct business revenue or sales totaled $10.360 billion.
Music-related education directly supported 15,745 permanent jobs and generated $0.859 billion in direct annual earnings in 2022. The report also states that the combined direct Texas music-industry footprint totaled 89,969 permanent jobs and $4.585 billion in annual earnings.
For combined direct economic activity, the same 2022 report gives $10.808 billion. That combined figure is reported as annual economic activity, whereas the business figure above is labeled direct revenue or sales. Keeping those labels intact avoids treating differently named measures as interchangeable.
| Direct measure | 2022 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Music-related business jobs | 74,224 | 71,385 |
| Music-related business earnings | $3.726 billion | $4.039 billion |
| Music-related business revenue or sales | $10.360 billion | $11.327 billion |
| Music-related education jobs | 15,745 | 15,447 |
| Music-related education earnings | $0.859 billion | $0.842 billion |
The table compares the reported business and education measures for the two measurement years. It does not calculate growth rates or imply that the reports used identical methods beyond the labels and figures stated in the source reports.
2022 modeled impact
After ripple effects, music-related business reached 166,691 in Texas in 2022, with the source reporting the category’s post-ripple total. The corresponding reported totals were $7.771 billion, $23.040 billion, and $0.388 billion after ripple effects. In the report’s sequence, these figures represent jobs, earnings, revenue or sales, and Texas tax revenue.
Music-related education reached 25,984 after ripple effects. Its corresponding totals were $1.620 billion, $3.414 billion, and $0.081 billion for earnings, revenue or sales, and Texas tax revenue.
Across the Texas music industry, the 2022 report gives a total modeled impact of 192,675 after ripple effects. It reports $9.391 billion in earnings, $26.454 billion in revenue or sales, and $0.469 billion in Texas tax revenue for that total impact.
The 2022 results therefore show why the direct and modeled perspectives produce different readings. The combined direct footprint was reported at 89,969 permanent jobs, while the total modeled impact was 192,675 after ripple effects. Both are Texas figures for 2022, but they describe different scopes of economic activity.
Pre-pandemic benchmark
The The 2020 Economic Impact of Music in Texas report provides a pre-pandemic benchmark for activity measured in 2019 and reported in the 2020 study. These are historical figures from that study and are not presented here as an independently verified current estimate.
For the pre-pandemic activity measured in that report, music-related business directly supported 83,572 permanent jobs. Direct business earnings were $3.596 billion, and direct revenue or sales were $10.808 billion. Music-related education directly supported 15,562 permanent jobs and generated $0.847 billion in direct annual earnings.
The combined direct Texas music-industry footprint in the 2020 study totaled 99,134 permanent jobs and $4.443 billion in annual earnings. Combined direct annual economic activity was reported at $10.808 billion.
The total modeled impact after ripple effects reached 210,595 permanent jobs. The study reported $8.799 billion in earnings, $27.334 billion in revenue or sales, and $0.440 billion in Texas tax revenue. Because the period is 2019 activity reported in a 2020 study, it should be read as a pre-pandemic benchmark rather than a 2020 activity count.
Austin music economy benchmarks
Statewide Texas figures provide scale, while Austin offers an earlier city-level view. The Austin Music Economic Impact UPDATE | February 2016 reports separate benchmarks for Austin’s 2010 primary music sector and its 2014 music-related tourism sector.
In 2010, Austin’s primary music sector generated $856.10 million in total output, $325.63 million in total value-added, and $156.52 million in total earnings. It generated 7,957 total jobs and $9.66 million in city tax revenue.
The 2014 music-related tourism sector generated $1,105.32 million in total output and $665.19 million in total value-added. It generated $335.41 million in total earnings, 13,971 total jobs, and $38.93 million in city tax revenue.
| Austin benchmark | 2010 primary music sector | 2014 music-related tourism |
|---|---|---|
| Total output | $856.10 million | $1,105.32 million |
| Total value-added | $325.63 million | $665.19 million |
| Total earnings | $156.52 million | $335.41 million |
| Total jobs | 7,957 | 13,971 |
| Tax revenue | $9.66 million city | $38.93 million city |
These Austin benchmarks use different years and sector descriptions, so they are context for the state statistics rather than a like-for-like time series. The 2010 column describes the primary music sector; the 2014 column describes music-related tourism. The source labels the tax measure as city tax revenue, unlike the Texas reports’ statewide tax-revenue measures.
The statewide and Austin figures together show several layers of the live music economy: direct jobs and earnings, modeled effects across the wider economy, education, tourism, and public revenue. Measurement period, geography, category, and scope remain essential when interpreting each statistic.