Meet the Aussies on less than $6k a year

Nearly fractional of Australia’s moving musicians are making little than $6000 a twelvemonth and the immense majority, oregon immoderate 86 per cent, accidental they person been treated “unfairly” connected the job.

The startling results travel from a survey of much than 550 musicians from Musicians Australia that exposes the brutal world of beingness for astir of the country’s nonrecreational musicians.

A bulk request to instrumentality connected aggregate jobs to survive, the canvass found, and conditions person deteriorated since the onset of Covid, with the accrued closure of venues and one-sided interest arrangements adding to the wide cost-of-living pressures bearing down connected each moving Australians.

“Musicians are the look of Australia’s insecure enactment crisis,” Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance campaigns manager Paul Davies said connected Tuesday.

“They are expected to get by connected extraordinarily debased incomes, inconsistent and often unpaid enactment and they precise seldom person superannuation, which is simply a close for each workers.

“The bulk of musicians enactment aggregate jobs and marque sacrifices to prosecute their euphony careers, having to money their projects and creator development, and that’s connected apical of supporting themselves and their families.”

Nearly fractional of musicians earnt little than $6000 during the 2023 fiscal year, the survey found, portion 64 per cent earnt $14,999 oregon less.

Only 1 successful 5 derived each their income from their euphony career, portion two-thirds took up enactment extracurricular the manufacture to marque ends meet.

More than fractional cited deficiency of wage arsenic the biggest obstruction to moving successful euphony afloat clip and 82 per cent said they did not person superannuation for gigs.

The musicians besides study struggling done brutal moving conditions, with 62 per cent saying they had experienced bullying, harassment oregon favoritism astatine work.

Folk instrumentalist Kimberley Wheeler said she was present much babelike than ever connected streams of income extracurricular of music.

“Once I would person derived fractional my net from music, but rising surviving costs and a driblet successful show fees has forced maine to pivot to different enactment extracurricular of music,” she said.

“It’s a trade-off I privation I didn’t person to make, but it’s present harder than ever to marque a decent surviving arsenic a moving musician.”

“It is not decently acknowledged that what we bash is an occupation.

“Musicians are typically treated arsenic having a lesser close to gain income than different earners successful the euphony industry. We run arsenic businesses. We request to gain a surviving wage, not pouch money.

“Most organisations are unwilling to negociate presumption oregon cognition models. I don’t deliberation it has to beryllium this way.”

Musicians Australia, a MEAA initiative, is pushing for Tasmania to follow a “minimum fee” argumentation for musicians playing astatine public-funded gigs.

The interest would present a minimum of $250 per instrumentalist and the argumentation is already successful spot successful South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria, NSW and the ACT.

Mr Davies said the argumentation for nationalist gigs would buttress upcoming negotiations betwixt the national and commercialized operators.

The fearfulness net study follows the closure of iconic Australian euphony festivals, including Splendour successful the Grass, Falls Festival and FOMO, arsenic rising costs pummel the industry.