Longing for the day ...

The decline in professional musicians

In recent times I have come across several mentions of the complaint that the number of professional musicians in declining. This is usually followed by some declaration or lament that without professional status, less music will be made. This is laughable ...

Personally, I make music because I enjoy writing, recording and performing music. I have been able to make some money from my performances and sell some of my recordings, but this has never been a full-time thing for me. in fact, one of the most talented musicians I know, Ian Focks, once told me that he had no desire to be a full-time musician.

Shocked, I asked him to explain this. He said that he loved playing music and did so whenever he got the chance to play with people he liked. But if he had to play music professionally, then he would have to play music he hated with people he hated ... and he wasn't interested in doing that. Nice approach ...

So, if there are less professional musicians (and I don;t doubt it for a second), why?

The ABS employment stats show that in 1996