ArtsPay

A new research project aims to "build consensus around the most pressing priorities for promoting quality work" in the creative sector.

The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre has launched a six-week-long call for evidence, seeking experiences of working in the sector that can form the basis of a sector-wide good work strategy.

The researchers are especially interested to hear from membership organisations that represent large groups, though individual contributions are welcome.

The centre's Director, Hasan Bakhshi, said both labour reforms and sectoral strategies may be needed to address the precarity of arts and cultural work.

Submissions can be made by emailing goodwork@pec.ac.uk.

Museums and galleries in England are encouraged to apply to the DCMS/Wolfson Fund, opening May 9.

The partners have each contributed £2m to the fund on its 20th anniversary.

Grants are available to up to 370 eligible institutions who want to enhance display and interpretation or otherwise improve access to collections.

Arts Minister Stephen Parkinson called the scheme "a brilliant example of what can be achieved when public funding and private philanthropy come together".

There has been little change to gender pay gaps at UK auction houses since 2018.

Reporting by the Art Newspaper has revealed worsening pay gaps at Bonhams, Christie's and Sotheby's. 

Women at Bonhams earn an average of 48p for every £1 their male colleagues receive. A company spokesperson said furlough skewed its figures for 2020 - just 16 staff were on full salary the day they were recorded.

The pay gap at Christie's is 25.6% compared to 25% four years earlier. The firm says most of its global workforce is female, including several new senior hires.

Sotheby's pay gap is now 24.9%; it was 22.2% in 2017/18. It expects new "family friendly policies" to make a difference soon.

73,000 arts and entertainment workers do not quality for statutory sick pay, according to trade union body TUC.

The figure amounts to one in eight sector workers, or 12% of the workforce.

TUC warns that tougher self-isolation rules introduced in light of the Omicron variant could leave these workers without income over the Christmas period.

“Our sick pay system is broken. No one should be left to choose between doing the right thing or putting food on the table," TUC General Secretary Francis O'Grady said.

The UK has the least generous statutory sick pay in Europe, the union says, worth £96.35 per week and only available to employees earning more than £120 per week.

The Government previously introduced a temporary scheme to assist people who face hardship if required to self-isolate, but TUC analysis found 64% of applications were rejected.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching a study into the UK’s music streaming market.

The watchdog will probe the dominance of major record labels and music streaming platforms including Spotify to assess whether artists are getting a fair deal.

Streaming now accounts for more than four-fifths of UK music consumption, according to the BPI.

CMA's annoucement follows its ongoing investigation into Sony Music’s recent merger, which raised concerns of a “a substantial lessening of competition”, and a DCMS Committee inquiry into streaming's effect on artists.

The decision was welcomed by Committee Chair Julian Knight, who has previously supported calls for an official investigation.

“Our investigation exposed fundamental problems within the structure of the music industry itself. This action marks a key step forward.”

Female performing arts graduates' earnings outstrip their male counterparts' after five years.

The average salary for a female performing arts graduate is £21,900, rising from £14,200 in the first year after finishing their studies.

Whilst men earning more in the initial stage of their careers with an average salary of £14,300 in their first year, women earn more on average three years in - £18,300 compared to £17,500.

The opposite is true of creative arts and design graduates: females earn less than males from the get go - £16,400 on average compared to £16,800 in their first year working.

The gap grows with time, with men earning £23,400 on average after five years, £1,900 more than female creative arts graduates.

Creative arts, where 60% of graduates are women, provides the lowest financial returns of any course of study, analysis by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows.

Xiaowei Xu, a Senior Research Economist at IFS, said women disproportionately chose subject with lower-paying career options.

"Of course, money isn’t – and shouldn’t be – the only factor when it comes to choosing what to study. But more needs to be done to inform young people about the financial consequences of degree choices, and to overcome gender stereotypes, so that women are not locked out of high-paying careers by choices at a young age.”