A recent UK musicians census has discovered that over half of the working musicians’ in the country are earning below £14,000 a year.

The inaugural census asked 6,000 working musicians around the country a multitude of questions. The survey is the first of its kind in the country, created by The Musicians’ Union and the charity Help Musicians. It is expected that the survey will be repeated every three to five years.

The census also shed light on other demographics within working musicians in the UK as it was discovered that 70% of musicians are educated to a degree standard or higher with 50% holding a music degree.

Natalie Pohl, the Musicians’ Union General Secretary said about the survey: “The first Musicians’ Census highlights the challenges musicians face carving out and sustaining a career as a musician in 2023. As the UK’s trade union for musicians, this Census will help us be more effective at representing our members and tackling the nuanced challenges different communities of musicians face.”

More than half of the survey’s respondents reported they have to work multiple jobs in order to make a living. Investigations show that on average, a working musician has three or four other jobs. Musicians who are lucky enough to be able make it their entire livelihood on average earn only £30,000 a year, which is £4,000 less than the UK median average salary for the financial year ending in 2022. Only 3% of those who answered the survey earn £70,000 or more.

An anonymous respondent to the survey said: “a real glass ceiling in terms of performance pay with fees for most performance opportunities the same as they were 20 years ago … the hours are unsociable, rehearsals are often unpaid and there is much unpaid waiting around. Being a full-time musician and trying to be present as a parent is effectively impossible.”

44% of respondents complained of financial barriers that were holding them back in their career. Most notable and obvious financial issues surrounded around transport and equipment costs.

Furthermore, a lot of issues with debt were highlighted as well as the racial inequality in demographics. Overall, 17% of musicians were found to be in debt, whilst with black musicians it was found to be 30% were in debt.

In order for the statistics to make greater sense, 87% of the respondents were white and it was found that global majority musicians ultimately make less money than white musicians. From all of the respondents, a third of global majority musicians earn less than 25% of their income from music, whilst it is only a quarter for white musicians.

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