Survey By The Musicians’ Union Estimates UK Artists Have Lost Est. £13.9 Million In Earnings So Far

The massive financial losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak are severely affecting the creative sector.

As the severity of the crisis we are facing grows worse each day, the entire human race is being forced to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic head on with drastic measures – as cases continue to rise rapidly and thousands are losing their lives: cities and countries around the world are taking the best measures they see fit in order to protect the safety of their citizens.

For many, nationwide lockdowns are being implemented – which sees all ‘non-essential’ businesses forced to shut their doors and the economy suffering greatly. Many can aptly agree that saving people’s lives will always come first – obviously. Unfortunately, this has caused unprecedented job losses with many losing their main sources of income and every industry is suffering greatly.

As we have followed the spread of the outbreak, we’ve seen pretty much all major cultural events for 2020 cancelled or postponed, while upsetting – definitely for good reason. Sadly, creatives and all those within the music industry are being hit with one blow after another: whether they are creators, venue owners, teachers and more.

In a report by the Guardian focused on a new survey by the Musician’s Union – UK musicians have suffered a massive loss of £13.9 million in earnings (so far). In the survey conducted by the MU, 90% of an estimated 4,100 respondents have had their livelihoods greatly affected as we see major sources of income grinding to a halt.

The general secretary of the Musician’s Union has announced the implementation of a fund to provide grants of £200 to musicians who no longer have work due to this.

“We hope this fund goes some way to providing a small amount of relief to our members, but we urgently need the government to provide clarity on what wider support will be available, and we call on the record industry to play its part, too.”

Horace Trubridge
MU General Secretary