A study claims that 64% of UK musicians are considering quitting

A new study has claimed that a majority of musicians in the UK (64 percent, to be precise) are considering leaving the profession due to the financial impact of coronavirus.

Musician-booking site Encore surveyed 560 musicians in order to understand how the pandemic has affected them financially.

Encore CEO James McAulay shared the results of the study on social media, writing: “Just to spell it out: a MAJORITY of working musicians considering giving up music. The UK faces an unprecedented talent drain if government doesn’t act FAST.”

Musicians have lost, on average, £11,300 from cancellations since March 2020. Unsurprisingly, 87 percent of them also have fewer gigs booked for August-December 2020 than the same period in 2019.

The study’s statistics also revealed that young female musicians have 34 percent fewer gigs booked for 2020 than men. Expected earnings for the remainder of 2020 also demonstrate a gender disparity, with men expected to earn £1,201 and women expected to earn £659 on average.

By genre, pop singers are the worst affected, losing an average of £19,900 in earnings as a result of cancellations since March 2020. Jazz is the next-highest genre affected, losing an average of £10,469, while rock musicians lost on average £9,973.

According to Encore, many musicians are falling through the gaps of financial support too – with 41 per cent failing to qualify for the government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

View McAulay’s full thread here for his breakdown of the study’s statistics.

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