For most professional musicians, sustaining a feasible, working career involves working multiple jobs that usually aren't related to the industry.
New research, led by Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre at Griffith University in Brisbane is inviting musicians nationally to share their experiences with an online survey: Sustainable Portfolio Careers for Australian Musicians.
"This marks a significant opportunity for the sector to gain a much more detailed and nuanced understanding of the ways in which Australian musicians are currently developing and sustaining their careers," Project Leader A/Prof Brydie-Leigh Bartleet says.
Are you a musician working in performance or teaching, working with community groups, or working in the health sector or retail? Do you self-manage, self-produce or even self-promote? Do you work a regular day job while pursuing your music?
If you answered 'yes' to any of these, then you should set aside time to complete the survey. Stat.
It's not a short survey but you can save and come back to it. Your motivation for participating? You could score an iPad – but importantly you'll be contributing to a body of work for the betterment of your profession and industry which will allow stakeholders to better represent musicians at all levels of government.
The Making Music Work project explores conditions and strategies needed for Australian musicians to sustain successful, dynamic careers.
By examining the ways in which musicians navigate their careers, this research will not only look at how long musicians have been working in the sector, but – most critically – the diversification of roles that they hold, the ways in which they balance doing so, and ultimately how they sustain their livelihoods.
