Labor, Policy, and the Music Industry: Solutions for Covid-19 Era Music-Makers

Abstract

Musicians occupy an important role in society as centerpieces of culture, expression, and talent. Due to the economic and cultural importance of the music industry, it is useful, if not essential, to examine the impacts of major economic downturns—such as the recessions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic—that pose a risk to the industry. This thesis studies the Covid-19 pandemic impacts and adaptations experienced by professional musicians in the United States through a two-part study. Part I qualifies and quantifies the impacts of Covid-19 by reviewing literature on the recent recession and comparing two national surveys to measure impacts from the musician perspective. This section hypothesizes that the impacts faced by musicians during the pandemic were sizable. Part I finds that the music industry left many musicians unemployed and significantly diminished revenue for venues and performance groups. Despite this, different musical occupations were equipped with distinct adaptations to cope with the pandemic, allowing for some revenue streams to continue. To gain a direct musician perspective, the 2018 MIRA Survey of Musicians is compared to its updated study, the 2022 Survey of Musicians, to better quantify Covid-19 impacts on employment, income, wellbeing, and drug use. Analysis shows that musicians devoted less time to earning income, performance opportunities became less consistent, and life satisfaction and mental health were negatively impacted. Part II evaluates musician unions during the pandemic, asserting that musician unions have a special opportunity to help musicians through recessions such as the one resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. Historically, unions have tried and struggled to stabilize wages for musicians through recessions, but presently, unions have become more established and are better poised for success. Literature reveals that the modern musician union has many successes with several lingering weaknesses. Analysis of the 2022 Survey of Musicians is then used to reveal to what extent musicians favor musician unions. The survey shows that those who reached out to their unions during the pandemic found the unions to be helpful and that non-organized respondents were open to unionizing. Given the positive reception of unions, policy recommendations are offered to increase union membership and to protect labor laws in order to ensure musicians are better supported in future times of economic hardship.