After three years of practicing online, Salford Choral Society are back singing together in person, amidst worries over their future.
The pandemic and cost of living crisis has taken a toll on the music industry, which is a third smaller than in 2019.
Salford Choral Society’s Music Director, Tom Newall, believes the sector will suffer even more during the cost-of-living crisis. Mr Newall said: “I don’t believe there is enough importance given to grassroots education. Music is not seen as an essential thing.
“The cost-of-living crisis compounds the situation because people are having to make decisions about what to spend their disposable income on, if they have any disposable income at all so I think we will see our audiences take a hit.”
According to analysis from UK Music, the industry remains 31% down on the record £5.8bn in 2019.
A report found that in 2020, a third of UK music industry workers, 69,000 in total, lost their job. However, employment numbers did rise 14% to 145,000 last year but that number is still 26% lower than the 197,000 employed in 2019.
Credit: Joe Douglas
Philip Schweidler from the Royal Northern College and Salford Choral society said: “So many musicians have had to stop or drop from full time because they couldn’t do anything because the world stopped for two years and music is the last on that list”.
The society are working hard to recover after the catastrophic impact of COVID, but say they aren’t getting the result they hoped for.
Tom Newall added: “Since the pandemic we have not had the resurgence of audiences that we have expected, and we are trying to work out why that is”.
Robyn Pullen is a student at the Royal Northern College and is worried about the mental impact the decrease in musical engagement will have on people. She said: “Its more about the mental impact it has had. Mentally and emotionally, COVID, just not being able to sing”.
A report from The Global Council on brain health found that music has positive effects on emotional well-being, including decreasing anxiety, and managing stress.
Pullen added: “I can only say positive things about the impact that singing, and music has on people.”
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