Standards
Data Acceptance & Sourcing
Our job is not simply to collect numbers. Our job is to determine which numbers deserve confidence.
Last revised
Live Index works with imperfect information.
The live music economy does not exist inside a single database. Relevant information is distributed across public agencies, ticketing systems, venues, promoters, artist reports, tourism authorities, tax records, economic datasets, industry publications and other sources.
Our job is not simply to collect numbers. Our job is to determine which numbers deserve confidence.
Live Index evaluates data according to several principles.
Provenance
Where did the information originate?
Whenever practical, we favor primary sources, public records, original datasets and clearly attributable reporting.
Methodology
How was the number produced?
A statistic without a comprehensible methodology may be useful as a signal but should not automatically be treated as established fact.
Corroboration
Can the information be independently supported?
Material claims should be checked against additional sources when reasonable, and particularly when the underlying information is uncertain, commercially motivated or consequential.
Recency
When was the information collected?
Live music markets move quickly. Venue inventories change. Ticket prices change. Tax structures change. Touring patterns change.
Every dataset should be considered in the context of time.
Comparability
Are we actually comparing the same things?
Definitions of venues, attendance, ticket prices, economic impact and market boundaries frequently differ between sources.
Live Index will normalize data where responsible, and explain material differences where normalization would create false precision.
Limitations
Where are the edges of this dataset?
Every dataset has edges. Where meaningful limitations exist, we disclose them.
Uncertainty is not a flaw to conceal. It is information.