Rock musicians paid poorly in Australia

Press, 8 October 1987, Page 40

Rock musicians paid poorly in Australia

ROBERT CLARK

NZPA-AAP Sydney Musicians In Australia are the basis of a JA1.55 billion ($1.72 billion) annual industry, yet many of them earn only three quarters of the average wage, an Australia Council report shows. The report, the first comprehensive study of the music industry, including composers, performers, teachers, and related broadcast and print outlets, was commissioned by the Council’s Music Board in early 1986. It found although 60,000 ]>eople were employed in he industry, this was the equivalent of only 40,000 full time jobs. Popular musicians, who made up 41 per cent of Australian musical performers, earned on average only $A15,000 ($16,500) compared with the average adult wage of $20,000 ($22,000) for full-time work. The industry’s gross product, however, was comparable to the wellsubsidised clothing and footwear sectors and was bigger than textile manufacturing. Jeremy Fabinyi, mana-

ger of rock group Mental As Anything, said the report confirmed everyone’s intuitive feelings. “Rock musicians are screwed from ail sides. They are subsidising the industry,” he said. “Even musicians in the middle level of the industry are not well paid, even if they have a successful video or single.” Based .on a survey of more than 1200 musicians, the report found the product generated by music activities in Australia in 1984-85 produced about $1.55 billion, or 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product An economic consultant Hans Guldberg, who carried out the study, said the nature of the industry made it virtually impossible to determine the contribution made by the different types of music and musicians. Of the 20,500 full and part time musicians, 600 were part time rock musicians and only 1900 were full time. The study revealed a continuing increase in areas of musical activity, with a growth in participation, composition and

education and increasing recognition for Australian popular music The general growth of the arts was part of the shift in Australia away from employment in the primary and secondary industries, and of the growth of the informationbased society, the report said; '<•' ' In spite of this, it described export sales as miniscule, with remedies difficult to fathom. The - study also revealed: • The industry was dominated by men, except in the non-tertiary teaching sector. More than 85 per cent of musicians and 60 per cent of singers were male. • Employment and turnover had declined strongly In music-related Australian manufacturing, with local product being replaced by imports. The Minister of Arts, Senator Graham Richardson, welcomed the report, saying the size of the industry was staggering. He promised to use all the power and influence he could scrape to make sure the Government played its role in arts funding.