New research released by the independent charity Help Musicians has found that a third of professional musicians say they are earning nothing from music, with nearly a quarter saying they are considering leaving the industry.

The findings, which were provided to 4BR on request, revealed that nine in ten musicians (87%) are currently earning less than £1,000 per month. Just 1% earn over £2,500 a month.

Income

In addition, half stated that they believe they will not be able to achieve a sufficient income until 2022 and that there has been a 60% rise in musicians enquiring about mental health support

The study, conducted amongst nearly 1,000 professional UK musicians in August this year has shown that the effects of the pandemic are continuing to have a catastrophic impact.

Long time

Speaking about the findings, Chief Executive James Ainscough, Chief Executive said: "Whilst much of the economy is gradually getting back to normal, it will be a long time before musicians expect to return to their pre-pandemic income levels, as we predicted from the start of the pandemic.

For the past 18 months, we have been supporting nearly 20,000 musicians with direct financial aid to help them pay their bills and stay afloat.

As the industry starts to recover we are shifting our emphasis towards helping musicians re-build with a wide package of support from advice on diversifying income streams, mentoring to re-build connections, mental health support and much more."

Real crisis

He added: "We recognise that for some musicians, it will take a long time to rebuild and the team at Help Musicians will continue to be available to those musicians who find themselves in real crisis over the months ahead, ensuring we are alongside musicians every step of the way."

For the past 18 months, we have been supporting nearly 20,000 musicians with direct financial aid to help them pay their bills and stay afloatChief Executive, James Ainscough

Help

The charity has provided a further nearly £0.5m to help musicians through the coming months and is increasing its practical support to get musicians into work.

This follows on from the charity's emergency financial support which has seen it channel £18m into the bank accounts of 19,000 musicians in order to help them survive the financial hardship of the past 19 months.

However, the study found that for over 80% of musicians an inconsistency of bookings is stalling their ability to get their careers back on track, and almost 40% are facing a lack of venue availability as the backlog of pre-covid bookings stretches into 2022.

Lack of confidence

Additionally, over 30% of musicians surveyed cited a lack of confidence as stopping them from returning to perform in front of live audiences, a figure reflected by the 60% increase in mental health support being sought from the charity.

The figures come as Help Musicians announces that it is moving to a new phase of support, which will see it help professional musicians to rebuild their careers.

Donations

Help Musicians is asking those who are in a position to donate to give whatever they can, through the website, in order to help musicians rebuild their careers.

Every penny donated to Help Musicians goes straight to the frontline without any deduction to cover its operating costs or overheads.

https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/support-our-work/make-a-donation