Freelancers under pressure
Social media and streaming services have massively increased the emotional and mental pressure on freelancers.
According to industry experts, concert promoters and labels have been increasingly struggling with last-minute cancellations of concerts and production dates in recent years. This is apparently due to mental and psychosomatic illnesses. Freelance musicians in particular are feeling the greatly increased pressure to take on tasks such as marketing themselves, which labels and agencies used to do for them. Today, they are expected to maintain a constant presence on social media and build up their fan base themselves. On the other hand, previous sources of income, such as record sales and concert fees, have plummeted. And now the increased use of artificial intelligence in the production of commercial music is threatening to eliminate further sources of income.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the British Musicians' Union (UM) found in a 2016 study that more than two thirds of freelancers suffered from severe anxiety and depression, three times as many as the average population. It has responded with a guide for freelancers to help them consciously deal with the mental and emotional challenges of today.
The guide can be found on the web with a search for "A-Young-Freelancers-Guide-to-Mental-Health-and-the-Music-Industry.pdf"
