Help Musicians charity sees huge rise in requests for help

One in three musicians have reported suffering with their mental health

A mental health charity for professional musicians is warning of a burgeoning crisis in the industry.

The charity Help Musicians has seen an increase in people using Music Minds Matter, its dedicated mental health service.

The charity says around a third of professional musicians in the UK report suffering with their mental health.

Bristol-based performer Sid Goldsmith said: "Just knowing that someone has your back is a huge thing, even if you don't use it."

Sid Goldsmith is a folk musician who said he struggled with his mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

He added: "For me, Music Minds Matter paid for 10 sessions of therapy and I was able to choose who I went to and on my own timescale.

"Those sessions were very helpful to me and set some good habits in place for me."

Mr Goldsmith also explained that when venues were shut during the Covid-19 pandemic, his earnings declined drastically and his mental health suffered greatly because of this.

He said this had a big impact on independent and lesser-known artists and venues.

"There are so many niches in the industry that are really rich and necessary. They are our cultural compass and important to champion," added Mr Goldsmith.

According to Help Musicians, the mental health crisis is linked to financial issues in the industry. The charity surveyed 6,000 musicians and their average annual earnings were around £14,000.

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Head of the charity Joe Hastings said: "Music is a serious career. People creating music work incredibly hard and have very difficult schedules.

"It's a very competitive industry, lots of late nights and time away from home.

"People need to be respected for their abilities and skills, which needs to be reflected in what they earn and the level of skill involved."

Mr Hastings said there had been a 200 per cent increase in people engaging with the charity's services in the last two years.

The Covid-19 lockdowns had a large impact on the UK music industry, experts say

UK Music is a British umbrella organisation which represents the collective interests of the production side of the UK's commercial music industry.

It said the UK music scene is "iconic" and has proved to be "enduringly popular" around the world.

The organisation said there was a £2.6bn reduction in the industry's economic contribution in 2020, which resulted in around 35% redundancies in the workforce.

Prior to the pandemic, the music industry in the South West was worth more than half a billion pounds and supported more than 6,400 jobs.

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