Based On A Survey, 64% Of Musicians Are Thinking Of Quitting

Four Out of Ten Have Applied For Non-Music Jobs

Amid the pandemic, a survey by British booking organization Encore Musicians found out that around 64% of musicians are already thinking of quitting the industry. It was conducted across all genres and four-fifths of the respondents make a living from music and are therefore considered professional musicians.

According to the study, musicians lost an average of $15,000 in income and had an average of five gigs scheduled for this year.

Encore Musicians wrote, “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.”

Four out of ten had scheduled bookings for the rest of 2020, 40% have applied for a non-music related work since the lockdown in March, and 41% haven’t received any financial support from the government. CEO James McAulay said, “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.”

He added, “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.”