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How big is the prog rock community
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Manuel View Drop Down
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Points: 12352 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Manuel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 18 2020 at 07:40
I think it’s impossible to have an accurate picture, but I would say it’s quite small, compared to country, hip-hop, rap, etc. However, though small, it’s been there for quite a while, and it seems to be strong enough to continue to exist, small but steady.
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Originally posted by Mascodagama Mascodagama wrote:

There are ten of us. But we all use multiple IDs on Prog Archives to try and make it look a bit bigger.
 
I have 237 different logins here and nobody's sussed me out yet.
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Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:

I agree with you Jon. 
There are many many thousands of music fans that list bands like Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd, Swans, Radiohead, TMV, Tool, Neurosis and Current 93 as some of their favourite bands...yet if you ask them about ‘prog’ they end up with a confused look on their faces. They have no idea about the genre.

Originally posted by LAM-SGC LAM-SGC wrote:

Exactly Guldbamsen, because most people who listen to a wide range of rock are rock fans first, and just as in the 70s, they don't pigeonhole bands into unimportant genres.

Maybe the question should have been how many like to talk about Prog, if you listen to music you don't need a box, it only if you like to talk about music (or write as we do) it become useful to put your music in categories.

Got a pal a huge Tull collector, got CD, Albums, Video whatever he could get his fingers on, also into Gentle Giant, Genesis, Yes, Tolonen, and all types of Classic Rock. Like lots of sh*t even more resent bands prog and not prog. 

Never heard him say Prog one time in the 40+ years we listened together, he put on Tull or Stone Temple Pilots but he do not care what label i sometimes try to put on it. To him it Albums, Bands, Drummers ect. no more no less.            


Edited by tamijo_II - March 18 2020 at 08:42
Same person as this profile:
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Originally posted by Manuel Manuel wrote:

I think it’s impossible to have an accurate picture, but I would say it’s quite small, compared to country, hip-hop, rap, etc. However, though small, it’s been there for quite a while, and it seems to be strong enough to continue to exist, small but steady.

Compared to the larger world it's small but you could probably fill at least half a dozen football stadiums of prog fans and probably at least one if we are talking the US only. The thing though is that the internet makes it seem like it's much bigger than it actually is. We see all these people participating on online forums and facebook and we think to ourselves "wow, there really is a lot of us out there" but the reality is your average person is not a prog fan and in all likelihood has not even heard of the genre unless he or she is a really big music fan.

Another thing is I have been to many prog shows and festivals in the past. A band like echolyn or even spock's beard had about 60 to 100 people show up at their shows when I saw them(not together but separately at different shows but at the same venue)around 2003 or so(for both). Some people travelled a few hours and were from different states just to see them. Another time at this same venue(which holds about 325)I saw Peter Hammill who had about 80 people show up. Another time the band Knight Area played there with probably no more than 40 people. Yet another time District 97 played there with John Wetton. Maybe half were just there to see John Wetton and never even heard of D97. For the PH concert in particular  some probably weren't even really prog fans and the same thing with maybe D97 where some were just KC fans who don't know about the prog genre. Anyway, typically at festivals it would depend on the headliners. Nearfest sold out a 1,000 seat venue every year but that's in part because they had well known bands(in the prog community at least). Progday in North Carolina(which I was personally involved with for a few years) never seemed to get more than 200 fans and to this day still probably doesn't. I'll admit that not all prog fans have been to or go to festivals but it does at least tell us that the prog scene is still pretty small over all(at least compared to more mainstream genres). 


Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - March 19 2020 at 07:18
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The number is relatively small compared to other musical genres such as mainstream rock or country. There is also a lot of crossover, as evidenced by a recent poll on how many of us were all Prog all the time. Very few us fit that description. But there are enough of us to facilitate the constant release of Prog and related albums, as we see on this site. Some of these are brand new artists, some well established, and some are old bands revitalized by a slew of new members. So, the exact number is elusive, but given the ease of recording and promoting by our digital technologies, there are still plenty of people, artists and listeners, who exist. Prog may not be mainstream, but we are a living tribe, nation if you will, throughout the entire world, and we are a diverse population.
The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

 
...
Sorry if that comes of as sexist, I know there are women who like Prog, I just don't know any women who like Prog outside of this forum. And perhaps some on the Prog Boat are grandfathers and grandmothers and some mothers and fathers acting as chaperones so their randy wards don't get into too much mischief on the Pork Boat.
...
Hi,

The list of folks listening to Space Pirate Radio has several women in it ... and it is more like 15 to 20% ... and we know there are a bunch more folks listening that do not "register" to be acknowledged. It varies, and Space Pirate Radio in its old days in Santa Barbara had a lot of women listeners ... trust me ... a lot more than you or I thought weren't there!

I really think, and this may sound strange, that the top 5 is way to "male" oriented ... but if I look at the audiences for those bands,  YES takes the cake ... these days it's all about the hip, cool, dressed up, made up, colored hair and clothes ... kinda of folks ... and they are dancing, too!

I'm not a great fan of the folks here that walk around with big erections, to let every one know they are the biggest and the baddest story and knowledge about "progressive music" and "prog" ... and their comments are .... usually without saying anything ... after all, you got something else in mind, no? I would prefer to look at the women, myself! These Peter Greenaway styled dances are fine and fun and weird, but not for me! 


Edited by moshkito - March 19 2020 at 08:15
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Not nearly enough.

But in my way of thinking, it's more important for folks to find bands/music that they like and not to concentrate so much on a genre's name (especially sub genres).
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Originally posted by A Bard A Bard wrote:

I started listening to prog rock in the summer of 2019. I little confused about how big is the community so can any one tell me how big the is the community. It can be an estimate or very accurate. Thanks   

This big. 
 


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* Are they supposed to be standing in a sea of pee?
Just a fanboy passin' through.
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Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

* Are they supposed to be standing in a sea of pee?
 
or custard?
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Logan View Drop Down
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Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

* Are they supposed to be standing in a sea of pee?

 
or custard?


That makes sense. They're standing in a primordial sea of protoprogzoan Yellow Matter Custard.   It's a commentary on the evolution of the "Progo Erectus".
Just a fanboy passin' through.
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Points: 12 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sebprosperi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 24 2021 at 19:50
Great comments & info, thanks!. It would be awesome to know this, I am the leader of newcomer prog band "Bastian Per" and let me tell you, although we are still a young band it is very difficult to understand the prog market, and how to reach it. We do notice more affinity with older people thanks to pioneer bands like KC, Yes, Genesis, Tull, etc. (take another look at the average age on that CTTE picture posted before!) so I cant help thinking that this gold era got lost somewhere in the way and sadly, young peoples ears are now only capable of digesting simple chord progressions and auto-tune. 
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Without reading through the whole thread that's probably full lots of great insights as well as wild speculations...

I'd say the prog community is larger than you would guess if you think it's small and smaller than you would guess if you think it's large. Almost certainly smaller than the metal community (with which there's probably a sizable overlap), but also not as niche as, say, the hyper pop community (which I'm sure is growing hourly). Prog is old and established enough, with attachments to enough important bands and records, that it's in no danger of being erased or forgotten by history. But it certainly hasn't been relevant in decades. In fact, some historians would probably like to argue it never was relevant, just a passing phase of rock and roll that was to quickly discover punk and new wave and their fountains of authenticity or something. Considering Progsphere and the Prog sub-publication of Loudersound are both doing pretty well for themselves sending me e-mails all the time, I'd say most decently well versed music fans (maybe rock fans would be more accurate, but I'm feeling optimistic) know about progressive rock.
Porg for short. My love of music doesn't end with prog! Feel free to discuss all sorts of music with me. Odds are I'll give it a chance if I haven't already! :)
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There are lots of prog lovers who wouldn't call themselves progheads. Everybody loves classic Yes, Pink Floyd and the popular bands. If you mean community by those who venture far beyond the expected bigwigs of the era then it probably is only in the thousands but some of us don't do Spotify or leave our tracks on such sites so there are probably more than anyone can realistically count.

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I have never used Spotify or any other streaming services.
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From what I've seen at the concerts I've attended, between 250 and 350 lbs.
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