A census of nearly 6,000 professional musicians in the UK has found that 30% report having poor mental wellbeing, with another 11% feeling neither positive nor negative about it.
Musicians in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland report lower mental wellbeing than their English contemporaries, though the worst-affected region of all was north-east England, with 38% of its musicians affected. Dance music was the worst-affected genre, numbering 35% of respondents from that sector.
Musicians from marginalised communities are disproportionately impacted: 43% of LGBTQ+ musicians and 49% of musicians with disabilities report having poor mental health. The percentage rises even higher for trans musicians, to 63%.
The census has been put together by the Musicians’ Union and the charity Help Musicians, who aim to repeat it every three to five years.
In September, findings from the same census showed that nearly half of working musicians earn less than £14,000 a year from their craft. Despite high levels of education and training among professional musicians – with 70% having a degree or higher, including 50% having a music-based degree – more than half the respondents have to work multiple jobs to keep up with the cost of living.
This, in part, has contributed to the poor mental health of many musicians, the census found. Low earnings exacerbate bad mental health: those who make the least amount of money from music – less than £7,000 annually – are twice as likely to report having poor mental health as people who make £55,000 or more. Additionally, 47% of artists with poor mental health are in debt.
Squeeze musician Chris Difford, principal ambassador of Help Musicians’ sister charity Music Minds Matter, says: “I believe that at the core of every musician’s life is a deep need to find a stable and wonderful creative mind, but the realities of the industry sometimes don’t allow this to happen.”
The census found that early career support is vital to sustaining musicians’ wellbeing; the highest rates of poor mental health by career stage are reported by individuals who are just starting out. According to 41% of music students, their mental health was negatively impacted.
Sarah Woods, chief executive of Help Musicians says: “[We] need to build positive mental wellbeing for all who work in music but especially with the future generation so we can prevent crises before they happen.
“We would encourage everyone working in music to digest this report and work together so we can continue building an industry with positive mental health for all.”
