If you're a musician, chances are you're totally undiscovered, says a new study

If you're a musician looking to make it in the music industry, good luck. It's always been a well-known fact that one doesn't just become the next Katy Perry without a ton of hard work and even more pure luck and that most musicians are struggling to make it. However, a new study published by Next Big Sound has revealed that a shocking number of musicians aren't just developing or mid-sized, they're completely undiscovered.

So, what percentage of music artists are complete unknowns? 90.7 percent.

Next Big Sound took a look at "key milestones" in a musician's career, such as appearing on late night talk shows, charting on the Billboard 200, releasing new material and gaining likes on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

In the end, it was discovered that 0.2 percent of artists are "mega" stars, 0.9 percent are mainstream, 1.4 percent are mid-sized, 6.8 percent are "developing" and the whopping 90.7 percent are wholly undiscovered.

As one could assume then, likes and interactions on social media sites are then inversely related. Mega and mainstream artists, who make up 1.1 percent of all musicians, have a whopping 87.3 percent of Facebook likes, 88.4 percent of Twitter followers and 79 percent of YouTube and VEVO views.

Moreover, artists with established fanbases are more likely to grow. The study cites Shakira, the most liked singer on Facebook, as a prime example. Every day in 2013, she gained roughly 50,000 new Facebook likes, while most musicians gained less than one.

Luckily, the study ends on a bit of a hopeful note. Lorde, the Queen Bee of alternative pop, went from wholly undiscovered to mainstream in eight months.

Tags

Lorde, Shakira