Survey Results: Australian Jazz & COVID-19
Australian Jazz hit by COVID-19
This is an overview of the results of a survey conducted by The Usefulness of Art (TUoA) at the end of May 2020. The survey was created, primarily, to inform a Senate Inquiry submission on the impact of the Federal Government’s response to COVID-19 in regard to the Australian jazz sector.
“Feel like we got hit by a bus and have been dragged under. It is very traumatic and I think I have to turn my back on it all.” – Musician/teacher/venue booker, VIC
It will come as no surprise that COVID-19 has had a massive impact upon the entire Australian community, with particular devastation on the arts sector and live performance.
Australia’s jazz community is directly affected at many levels through Government policy, support and funding. Support for the jazz sector helps generate significant and valued economic activity across festivals, hospitality, tourism, export and education, which in turn contributes to more commercial enterprises such musicals, weddings, TV and film.
While the pandemic is not of the Government’s making, they have been responsible for navigating these difficult times in order to deal with both the health and economic crises. Good communication channels are essential to ensure information is shared both ways and healthy relationships are maintained.
There are many important discussions happening around the country around how to survive during this pandemic as well as what recovery could and/or should look like. The range of panels, webinars and discussions during this time have included organisations such as Australia Council, Australian Music Centre, Sounds Australia, Musicians Alliance, National Association for the Visual Arts, Music Victoria, Victorian Music Development Office, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Diversity Arts Australia and The Boite, as well as international events.
But how connected is our jazz community to these conversations?
Are our voices being heard?
Are we included in the recovery packages?
Will our strengths be utilised to help the recovery?
The survey results here cannot answer all of these questions, but they do acknowledge the positives of the Government’s response so far as well as highlighting gaps to be addressed. They do speak of a massive negative impact upon the jazz community in terms of activity, loss of income and wellbeing - both physical and mental. The results also draw attention to a feeling of strong disconnect between the Australian jazz community and various organisations and avenues of support. I believe consideration of these results offers perspective on how we might move forward.
Survey – background
“As an artist/musician I have spent my entire working life piecing together incomes from various places, almost always as contract, casual and gig work. And luckily, because of that I am resilient and adaptable. But my resilience and adaptability should not be taken for granted.” – Musician/composer/teacher, VIC
The focus of the “TUOA - COVID-19 impact on Jazz” survey was to look at the quantitative and qualitative impacts of the Government’s response to COVID-19 upon the Australian jazz industry, particularly in terms of:
Creative practice
Economic Activity
Financial support
Wellbeing – physical and mental
Engagement/connection to broader structural infrastructure/institutions
There was representation amongst the 238 respondents from artists, venues, festivals, teachers, students, media, audience members and others. There was good spread in ages, with a 50/50 split for those under or over 45 – the largest cohort was between 30-44 at 38%. Three quarters of the respondents were metropolitan based, which aligns fairly closely to the geographical spread of Australia’s population. One third identified as female, with 1% identifying as non-binary.
The survey was held at the end of May, and so the picture presented here is based on events up to that date which was just prior to an easing of restrictions. Things have changed already. At the time of writing, Victoria is under harsher Stage 4 shutdown restrictions. Borders restrictions have just tightened and while some states are enjoying limited freedoms, the national jobs and economic outlooks are taking a downward turn given Victoria’s key contribution to the nation’s economic activity and supply chains.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Australian Jazz sector
“I have lost a large portion of my income, as well as my role in society and self, momentum of 'career' building in the industry and once again feel unappreciated by the government as a tax paying citizen. I am also concerned that programs I have been working in which involve using music as a tool within a mental health setting has also stopped.” – Musician/composer/teacher, VIC
In immediate response to the initial spread of COVID-19 in Australia, all live performances stopped in mid-March including jazz, followed by nationwide lockdowns, cancellation of events, and harsh limits put on gatherings. Everyone has been affected by this pandemic.
The impact has been devastating on the jazz sector according to the survey results:
Music related activities – 93% of respondents have lost work
Income – 84% have lost money
Physical wellbeing – 39% worse off
Mental wellbeing – 75% worse off – with 1 in 4 stating a “huge decrease”
There were a handful of people who reported positive impacts of the lockdown in regard to physical and mental wellbeing: 10% and 5% respectively. This is likely due to enforced time-off allowing for self-care. Though in comparison to the figures above, it can be seen the impact has been overwhelming negative, especially in terms of mental wellbeing.
Has the Government helped?
"This is a volatile time for many and we need to offer full support. This is not just financial but also [self/intrinsic) worth. Do we value arts? How do we value arts? I have no idea why the arts have become a political game.” – Musician/composer/teacher/festival, QLD
In response to the pandemic, the Federal Government’s economic response in the form of JobKeeper and JobSeeker has provided reasonable support, though it has not provided a safety net for everyone in the sector.
Not everyone has needed or applied for these support programs – some had another job, some said they were ineligible, while some were not in need of financial assistance. For the 45% respondents who did apply there are mixed results but for the most part JobKeeper/Jobseeker have offered much needed support. Everyone who applied for JobSeeker indicated success. Jobseeker covered most applicants, but unfortunately one in seven applicants has fallen through the gaps.
In terms of replacing lost income, the two programs appear to have hit the middle ground. As a comparison to their regular weekly income, around a third of JobKeeper/Jobseeker recipients reported it was a similar amount, while one third said they were better off, and the other third said they were worse off.
But disturbingly there is evidence of correlation between financial security and wellbeing. For those receiving JobKeeper/JobSeeker but not enough to covering their current financial needs, the numbers of people reporting negative impacts on their mental and physical wellbeing increased by 15% and 30% respectively, in comparison to those saying they were sufficiently covered.
In response to the drastic impact on the arts sector, there have been several rapidly conceived “resilience” programs of support from a range of funding and organisational bodies: Australia Council, Creative Victoria, ABC, local councils, philanthropic organisations and others. Unfortunately, some of these funds impacted existing programs - amounts available were modest and competition has been high. Also unfolding at the same time was the long-awaited announcement of Australia Council’s coveted four-year funding recipients, which has seen a 25% reduction in the total number of funded organisations, unrelated to COVID-19 impacts.
There are already various analyses of the measures announced by the Government to date, and the shortcomings of each in responding to the requests and needs of the arts industry. I won’t repeat all of that here but suffice to say there was very little announced prior to this survey in May and only part of the COVID-19 Creative Economy Support Package announced on June 25 has had details released by the Minister for the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, with the funds not expected to begin flowing before Nov 2020 at the earliest.
The survey results indicate fairly typical but low success rates of approx. 10-20% across a range of funding avenues, with Federal and State funding being the most popular. Given less than a third indicated they had applied, that means the likely funding will only support 3-6% of the survey cohort’s activity. But due to the timelines, many respondents had not received results at the time of the survey. Further research needs to be undertaken to get a more comprehensive picture.
Have our governments done a good job
“Our Governments fall far short of recognising the huge contribution the Arts sector makes not only to our economy but to our academic successes and cultural and social wellbeing.” – Musician/teacher/community big band leader, VIC
The sentiment within the jazz community at the end of May was that the Federal Government was largely doing well in dealing with the health crisis while only one in four said they were satisfied with the economic response. Though when asked about the Government’s overall response in relation to their musical activities, less than one in five expressed any degree of satisfaction.
In contrast, at the same time there was generally greater satisfaction in State leadership across the country. Only in NSW were State and Federal leadership responses comparable in levels of satisfaction.
Is our jazz community connecting?
“The arts/Jazz was not even in the conversation vis-a-vis emergency/ongoing funding support. We need to find grass-roots leadership who will raise these matters to State and Federal levels.” – Club/Artist Collective member/photographer, VIC
A more general question was asked to get a sense of the underlying strength – or otherwise – of the connection of participants in the jazz sector to the wide range of supports in and for the music industry. The jazz scene survives by the passion of its participants, but the survey results suggests there is a lack of feeling supported or valued.
There is a high degree of disconnection of Government to the jazz sector. When asked whether there was enough support for Australian jazz, 92.8% said no, while only 1.2% said yes. The strongest public support was seen as coming from local councils (though still very low at only 9.5%). This may correspond to the fact that cultural funding at a local government level has increased while Federal funding levels have been decreasing.
Expressed in the survey results and comments is a disconnect across the sector. There was no one thing where a majority of respondents feels there is enough support for Australian jazz. At the same time, the level of engagement with government bodies, media, and industry partners such as record companies/labels, publishing, agents, was not high. The most regular engagement identified was with music focused organisations and presenters, including venues and festivals, which were also perceived as being supportive of Australian jazz but only by a third of respondents.
One specific detail that stuck out was that only one application was made to access grant money via Regional Arts Fund (which received an injection of COVID-related funds to distribute). Given that many of our jazz festivals are staged in regional areas, and that cultural tourism is recognised as an important economic driver, this is an avenue of support that should be engaged with more actively.
So where are we going?
“Musicians and Artists in general have been neglected across the board. Yet it is we who define culture, society and play important roles in defining and questioning who we are as humanity, who we want to be, where we've come from.” – Musician/composer/teacher, VIC
The jazz sector is feeling very little optimism about what the “other side of the bridge” looks like, especially in terms of the national sector, closely followed by their local scene and international engagement. A majority of the comments relate to the uncertainty of what the roadmap actually looks like to get to any resemblance to something familiar. And this was before the second Victorian lockdown was implemented, which is likely to exacerbate some of the issues identified and compound the impacts.
The impact of COVID-19 and the Government’s response has impacted heavily, as indicated by the survey results:
Musical/economic activity is hugely diminished
Physical and mental wellbeing issues directly influenced by financial insecurity
Gaps in JobKeeper/JobSeeker support
Insufficient and low level of funding for the sector
Lack of engagement with all levels of government
Lack of strong networks and engagement across the sector
Some of these were pre-existing and systemic issues across many sectors – consider the ongoing and current debates regarding education, science, health and aged care, for example. The pandemic has simply exposed the weakened fragility of our economy’s interconnected structures. But hopefully by quantifying and understanding some of these issues, it will be easier to form strategies to address them.
Steps forward
“Live jazz performance is what keeps me positive and psychologically balanced. The sector’s impact is wider than straight economics and should be valued accordingly.” – Audience/supporter, QLD
There are real challenges ahead, not just for us, not just for Australia, but for the whole world. There will be no “snap-back”. On a positive note, there are conversations that are looking at how we move forward; Jazz needs to be included in these discussions - not just as a listener but as the vital contributor that it is to the larger contemporary music sector.
We need to develop stronger unity and communication throughout our sector – as a united community we will have a stronger voice. Within the scene we know there are many different facets and approaches to jazz, but from the outside we are lumped together under one label. Let’s use our collective strength to help each other.
We need to understand the value of our endeavours and the contribution we make to driving economic activity as well as contributing to social cohesion, national identity and wellbeing.
We need to engage with all levels of government in meaningful discussions about mutually beneficial partnerships to assist ourselves, our communities and the broader national economy.
We need to stand up for ourselves and also work with others to ensure we all get through. We are often left fighting for our piece of the pie, instead of sharing what we have with each other or working together to make more pies.
We can start earlier than most live music. We are familiar with smaller venues, often with seated audiences and lower production costs. The intimate, often acoustic nature of jazz makes it ideal for when things begin to open up. We are used to operating on shoe-string budgets. We can play in all sorts of alternative spaces, including outdoors. We can be light and entertaining or present serious concert-style performances. We have artists and audiences across all generations. We play a music that comes from and celebrates diversity.
Consider what we have achieved with a lack of infrastructure, industry and funding over the years. Imagine if that funding was doubled? Instead of the 3-6% estimated above, what if 10% of our activity was properly funded? 15%? What if we had access to non-competitive funding, available in other sectors, whereby fulfilling certain criteria brings success? What if there was actual societal change with something like an artist’s wage or Universal Basic Income?
Right now, Australian jazz is suffering deeply due to the pandemic as well as a long-term neglect of support for our sector. But we do share a passion for a style of music with deep roots that helps connect us as a community. Let’s find a way to use our strengths to help one another at the same time as we contribute to our nation’s recovery in the coming years.
We do not have to wait - we can be the recovery.
Adam Simmons
The Usefulness of Art
20th August 2020