Plenty of nothin’

It seems rather cheeky to invade the pages of AP with an article about amateur music-making, but I beg your indulgence. This sector is highly professional in its outlook, it supports professional artists to a considerable degree, and it is riding the economic downturn more easily than many professional arts organisations. The amateur music scene is often a source of surprise to professional artists and arts administrators, even though many of the latter are themselves amateur musicians. It is peopled by highly committed individuals, some of whom have playing ability equivalent to professional musicians, and some of whom have as much concert-promoting experience as our major venues. These people are kept going by a love for and commitment to their chosen musical genre, and a desire to see more and better music-making in their communities. They face similar problems to professional promoters in terms of audience development, finance, equal opportunities and diversity, and the general whims and vagaries of organising events. And yet their rewards are a sense of personal satisfaction and achievement rather than any kind of financial benefit. They do it for love.

They make a massive contribution to the professional music scene: freelance musicians would not be able to survive without the amateur promoting network; musical directors and accompanists would have nothing to direct or accompany; teachers would have no pupils. The amateur music scene is a hugely important part of the overall ecology of music in the UK, which is one of the reasons why there is little hostility between amateur and professional musicians, unlike other arts sectors. Apologies for the stats attack, but a little context is worthwhile: each year, Making Music’s 2,750 members put on around 10,000 concerts and events, contribute more than £14m to the music economy, perform to audiences of around 1.6 million. They employ around 16,000 professional artists, and they provide music in many communities where there would otherwise be no live music. But statistics and economic contributions hardly bring this sector to life. I heard an amateur singer answer why she spends much of her busy life rehearsing and performing: “because it’s cheaper than therapy”, and this summed up amateur music-making – it’s not expensive to do, it’s extraordinarily life-enhancing, and it busts stress like no other activity can. And this is why – touch wood – we have seen little effect from the downturn so far. Would you give up such an important activity for the sake of, say, £100 a year? Of course not – it might well be the one thing keeping you sane.
So next time you see an amateur musician (you’ll probably be walking down the street) just remember how important their ‘job’ is. They are keeping themselves and others happy, providing musical opportunities for themselves and their community, keeping professional musicians in employment, and enriching the nation’s cultural life. Where we would be without the people who get paid nothing for being musicians? Much poorer, for sure.