Most Musicians Are Thinking of Quitting, Survey Says
Approximately 64 percent of professional musicians are thinking of quitting music as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey suggested.
The investigation, carried out by British booking organization Encore Musicians, concluded that artists had lost an average of $15,000 in income each and had an average of five concerts scheduled for the rest of 2020.
“The results show that due to widespread event cancellations, musicians have lost an average of 87 percent of their live bookings, and with them their main source of income,” Encore said. The report noted that the survey crossed all genres of music and that more than four-fifths of respondents could be considered professional musicians who make a living from their art.
Four in 10 had no bookings at all for the rest of the year, and a similar number had received no financial support from the British Government. A slightly greater number had been helped by the non-government bodies. As a result of these challenges, four in 10 musicians have applied for a non-music job since lockdown measures began in March. The results were said to point toward “a significant contraction of the U.K. music industry, which contributes $5.2 billion annually to the U.K. economy and employs nearly 200,000 people.”
“We’re acutely aware of the damage the pandemic has done to our musicians’ livelihoods, but I was still shocked to see just how few bookings most musicians have left in the diary for 2020,” Encore CEO James McAulay commented. “This problem is being felt across the industry – from signed veterans to young musicians at the beginning of their careers. The government must act now to make sure our musicians aren’t left behind.”