The Musicians’ Union have today published some new research into the pay situation for musicians in the UK today.
Commissioned by the MU, The Working Musician report reveals that after years of training, more than half of all professional musicians are paid less than £20,000 a year with 60% having worked for free over the past year.
Against the backdrop of a potential triple dip recession and an autumn statement which omitted music from the Government’s £6m boost to creative industries, the report’s statistics are grim reading for the future of music in the UK, demonstrating the chronic levels of low pay or no pay at all for self-employed musicians.
John Smith, MU General Secretary, said: “so many of the MU’s members are SMEs battling against a tide of arts cuts and reduced income due to piracy. Small but significant investment by Government could make all the difference in the struggle to survive.
“What’s also interesting is that of the musicians surveyed who receive royalty payments; over half said that they represented an important additional source of income for them. This finally puts paid to the argument that ordinary musicians do not benefit from copyright.”
For more information, contact the MU through their website.
What do you think about the report’s findings? Is the government under serving music and musicians by not excluding the sector from their creative industries boost?