by Diane McKee

Scotland has a long and proud tradition as a nation of musicians and music lovers. During these challenging times music is more important than ever, providing a welcome respite from grim pandemic statistics and anxieties about life after Brexit. Whether it’s Eddi Reader or Biffy Clyro, Big Country or Dougie MacLean, music can take you to another place. It has a way of emptying your brain of worries and anxieties, replacing them with chords, riffs and lyrics. In the same way that body lotion soothes rough skin, music calms troubled souls.

However, those very same people who have entertained and enthralled us over the years are now in trouble themselves. As someone who enjoys singing and playing in bands as a hobby the current situation means that I can’t see or make music with my bandmates, which is disappointing. Fortunately for me it isn’t my job. But professional musicians, whether in orchestras, touring with musicals around the UK or making their money from live gigs, have all seen their income and job prospects plummet. They have fallen through the support net and been forgotten, the very people who have provided us with entertainment and pleasure over the years, in venues and theatres. Meanwhile politicians like the Chancellor Rishi Sunak are happy to throw them under a bus, suggesting that they might retrain for other jobs. This is not merely insulting, it is abhorrent that those with artistic talent and training are considered unnecessary, a mere drain on the economy. Clearly the Chancellor and the rest of the government have very short memories. The most recent figures show that the live music industry is worth £1.1 billion, with the music industry overall worth £5.2 billion. In Scotland the figure for the music industry was £431 million in 2018.