Musicians and artists across the UK were left angry and upset following a tweet from ITV news suggesting Rishi Sunak had told them that “musicians and others in the arts should retrain and find other jobs”. Although ITV have since deleted the tweet and Rishi has denied saying this, other statements from Sunak still point towards the same outcome.
The combination of Rishi saying he “can’t save every job” and repeating that they are “trying to create fresh and new opportunit[ies] for people” after being asked about the arts and music industry doesn’t look positive for the artistic sectors.
Musicians and artists took to twitter in dismay to express their feelings following these statements. Discussing how they have always had two work two jobs and agree that the music industry is “underfunded”. East London based musician @runrummermusic tweeted “Real talk: most musicians already work one or two jobs outside the industry to support their craft…Rishi Sunak saying this clearly shows that he has no understanding of the creative sector and how it’s already been grossly unfunded for far too long”
I asked Georgia Blackman of Happy People Music (@happypplmusic) blog some questions as someone who has recently completed a degree in Music Journalism and her thoughts on the situation.
How do you feel as someone who’s just spent three years getting a degree in music journalism to now be told that people in your area of expertise should look for ‘new and better jobs’?
“It makes me feel rather angry and I feel like I’ve wasted my time doing what I love. It’s degrading to tell a whole sector that they need to find other jobs and reskill – the industry is full of hard workers and passionate people like myself and I don’t think the government fully recognise the potential that they’re throwing away.“
You are the founder of Happy People Music blog, which has been growing rapidly recently, are you worried about how the lack of support for the music and arts industry may impact the future of your work?
“I don’t think it will impact my website in particular because online work will continue to thrive… I do however worry about my future plans in terms of other career paths that I was looking forward to try and explore. It’s a tough time for the industry but I know it will bounce back to the amazing energy we all seem to carry and what the government are throwing at us at the moment!”
NewAbnormal 