Driven to despair

With the cost of petrol, heating and food skyrocketing in recent months, the outlook for freelance musicians this winter is less than healthy. What can be done to alleviate the situation?

Fuel costs are just one concern among freelance musicians

GETTY

Freelance musicians who came through the worst of the pandemic without leaving the industry are now being hit by a cost of living crisis that threatens the viability of their careers. Although work opportunities have returned, musicians face increasing living and travel costs. The same cost of living pressures could also threaten audiences’ appetite for live events, and the ability of parents to afford instrumental lessons for their children.

One of the most noticeable cost increases for freelance musicians has been for petrol and diesel. According to price-tracking figures from motoring organisation the RAC, although the average price of unleaded petrol at UK pumps has fallen back from its July 2022 high of £1.91 a litre, in mid-September 2022 it was still 15 per cent higher than it was in January 2022, and 42 per cent more than it was in January 2021. The average price for diesel in mid-September 2022 was up nearly 30 per cent from a year earlier. ‘The gigging system is not set up for fuel to be this expensive,’ says fiddler Sam Sweeney, an award-winning traditional music artist from Stroud. ‘For a recent gig in Wales, the travel expenses alone for my band were £400 in diesel. So that’s a third of the fee gone, before the agency have taken their commission and I’ve had to pay the four other people I need in order to put a gig on.

The industry is stretched beyond measure, and it would take a seismic change for venues to start offering travel expenses.’

London-based freelance violinist Christiana Campbell says she has been turning down some orchestral work outside the capital because the travel costs make it unviable. ‘Even though the gig could be really good for my career, I have to weigh up whether I am going to make anything from it financially, and sometimes the answer is no,’ she says. ‘So I decide to stay home and teach some of my local students, and actually make some money. Professionally that’s quite sad.’

With 40 pupils a week ‒ including private students and students at three schools ‒ Campbell says teaching gave her the financial security to get through the last two years, but she is now worried that some parents will not be able to afford music lessons for their children. ‘There is also the issue that because of the rise in living costs, we as teachers need to raise our fees,’ she says. ‘I’ve just raised mine for the first time in five years. But the worry is that even if we raise our fees, it’s probably not going to be enough to match the rise in bills we’re going to be faced with this winter. And also, if we push our fees up, we risk losing some pupils.’

Essex-based freelance cellist Cameron Smith says the situation is at least as difficult for teachers outside the capital. ‘Some teachers working away from London are earning quite a bit less than those in it. But they’ve got the same bills ‒ the cost of living is hitting them just as hard.’ Although Smith is taking advantage of the backlog of work that has built up in the UK over the past two years, he has seen work opportunities in the EU dry up since Brexit. ‘Pre-pandemic, I would go over to the continent for work without a second thought,’ he says. ‘I found I had a better chance auditioning there than I had here. Now, however, it’s almost become a closed shop, because of the visa and work restrictions.’

‘The gigging system is not set up for fuel to be this expensive’

Music venues and the organisations that employ freelance musicians are facing their own financial struggles. In August 2022 the Music Venue Trust, which represents grassroots music venues in the UK, reported its members were facing an average increase in energy bills of 316 per cent, which it warned could lead to some 30 per cent of venues having to close permanently. In September the UK government under new prime minister Liz Truss announced an energy price guarantee for businesses for six months, but the Music Venue Trust is calling for a long-term solution for energy provision for venues, and organisations including UK Music and the Musicians’ Union are pressing the government additionally to cut VAT on concert tickets and extend business rate relief for music businesses.

‘Venues don’t have the money to help maintain the ecosystem of artists,’ says Sweeney. ‘Only the most successful and the most famous performers are getting booked because the venues see they can stay afloat if they do that. So there’s a forced shrinking of the pool of artists who get booked for anything.’ Venues that significantly hike ticket prices to help cover their bills risk pricing out members of their audience who are already facing increased travel and accommodation costs. In the orchestral sector, Smith reckons venues will increasingly be tempted to programme more commercial repertoire: ‘I think they are going to have to put on more accessible concerts, such as film music and gaming music programmes ‒ whether you agree with that or not ‒ simply because they’re so popular.’

Organisations advocating for musicians recognise that there are pressures on all sides. Musicians’ Union general secretary Naomi Pohl says: ‘What our members need is a pay rise that reflects the cost of living. We’re trying to negotiate rates of pay across the orchestral and theatre sectors, for both employed and freelance musicians, but in the live sector many organisations have been through a terrible period with venues being closed. It’s not easy for them to offer a decent pay increase, but at the same time our members can’t afford to go without a pay rise, so negotiations are going to be very difficult.’

JOHN MAC