Happy to contribute to this wonderful group of publications:
New column:
Last week, I learned that one-third of British musicians could quit the music industry due to a lack of support during this coronavirus crisis. Some 2,000 members of the Musicians’ Union were recently surveyed on the issue in the UK. According to the results of the report, 34% of respondents are considering giving up their professional careers in music. Since lockdown began in March, those working in the music industry have been left unable to perform and thus have been hit sharply with financial difficulties.
The report published by The Guardian shows that almost half of the members surveyed have already found work outside the music industry, and 70% are unable to do more than a quarter of their usual work. “Musicians are working in supermarkets, being Deliveroo drivers, going back to things they trained for early in life,” Horace Trubridge, the union’s general secretary, told the Guardian.
This autumn and winter threaten to be several months of no work for performing musicians and their crews if no extra financial support is coming from the government apart from universal credit.
Earlier this year, the Musicians’ Union conducted a survey which found that UK artists have lost £13.9 million in earnings because of coronavirus. The Musicians’ Union received responses from 4,100 of its 32,000 members, and 90% responded that their income had already been affected. Another survey from Music Venues Trust found that only 36% of British gig-goers feel safe returning to live music events. Yet, before the crisis the music industry was worth £5.2bn. How can the British government let this happen to one of the most admired and known sectors of the economy and culture of the United Kingdom?
The music industry doesn’t have to suffer so deeply! There are solutions; and others can be enabled and fostered.
I’ve personally spent the past six years writing on British music history and Bristol’s music scene and developing artists. I’ve also lectured on music journalism and given talks about how music has improved my life. During this pandemic music has been my greatest comfort, calming anxiety and filling the void left by cancelled events and inaccessible family members. It has brought meaningfulness and conveyed powerful messages.
My heart feels for the artists currently in turmoil. They are missing the possibility to express themselves and to perform, as much as their income.
Yet, music is still everywhere: on YouTube, on Spotify, on Apple Music, on Amazon Music, etc. These tech giants have made huge profits during the past six months, precisely because of the pandemic.
I’m pretty sure that music will keep me going through the worst days of the lockdown and a year without holidays in my home country, or anywhere else in the rest of Europe or the world.
So I want these artists to keep on receiving a decent amount of copyrights for all their production. Isn’t this the least we can do? I personally don’t use streaming platforms. I still buy albums, in physical copies or as MP3, because I’ve travelled a lot these past few years. But even if a few of us still do that, it can’t be enough. What musicians need is to receive better payment from these streaming services. We urgently need to rethink how revenues are shared between the artists, the record company, the distributors and the streaming platforms.
There are also political solutions to help supporting musicians while government restrictions prevent music events from happening.
The government has a responsibility to support an industry all of us cherish and benefit from.
According to the charity Help Musicians, “the vast majority of musicians are self-employed, and a recent survey carried out by the charity showed that 25% of these believed they would be ineligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.” Despite strong and sustained demands from across the music industry, the government has not changed the terms of the scheme. In response, Help Musicians has launched a second phase of funding to provide financial support for musicians left with nothing but Universal Credit, or struggling to survive on what other support they receive.
At this stage, the British government could start taxing tech giants and online platforms properly. This could generate an emergency fund for musicians and their touring teams. Many groups and activists are also campaigning for local basic income trials during the second phase of the pandemic; such schemes could support the most vulnerable and the artists, especially musicians, who have no replacement to their work and income.
Many friends of mine working in music have turned to teaching music lessons online to survive. And parents love the opportunity to keep their children occupied creatively! The government could support a scheme for developing such lessons.
What can help our musicians?
A measure that could support musicians as well as artists and self-employed people and the unemployed in general is simply the creation of a national basic income. In mid-September there was International Basic Income Week, and many events raised awareness on this issue. A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a guaranteed, recurring payment to every member of society, sized to meet basic needs. It approaches the problem of people not having enough to live on by giving everyone a check equal to the cost of living. In its fullest form, it should serve all members of society, be unconditional and guaranteed for recipients’ lifetimes. On 25 September, a European Citizens’ Initiative for UBI has started to try and collect 1 million signatures for the EU parliament to start UBI schemes throughout the EU. A few British cities have started similar discussions, like Liverpool and Scottish Councils in Fife, North Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow. (More on UBI in my interview with its main thinker, Professor Guy Standing here: https://the-quarantini.captivate.fm/episode/a-quarantini-with-guy-standing-and-universal-basic-income).
Finally, locally, we can rethink our events. As cinemas and some theatres have reopened, some music venues could work on socially distant seated events. It seems like a consolation prize now but it might become a precious idea if restrictions continue for another few months. Here in Bristol, a venue like The Lanes has put this into place (https://thelanesbristol.com). Bands that have a huge fan base could start by performing many nights in a row in their home city, to replace touring.
Audiences need live music just as much as musicians need to perform. The Musicians’ Union has listed all the funding sources that exist here and now: https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Home/Advice/covid-19/financial-support-musicians
Let’s give music all the support that it needs.
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On Sunday, I read that the Department for Education (DfE) issued some guidance on Thursday for school leaders and teachers involved in setting the curriculum categorised anti-capitalism as an “extreme political stance.”
According to the current UK government, it equates to “extreme political stances”, along with opposition to freedom of speech, antisemitism, desire to abolish or overthrow democracy, and endorsement of illegal activity.
I must say reading this piece of news on a Sunday morning in England was not something I ever expected. I moved here in 2009, to then join the BBC World Service, and always regarded England as a place of delightful and precious thinking, culture and literacy. To think that progressive ideas could now be banned from school, while I'm myself supposed to start teaching journalism again very soon makes me despair.
The horror of a global pandemic and of the profound consequences of the climate crisis have shown that, on the contrary, it is high time to at least rethink capitalism to make it compatible with life again... At least!
Two years ago, I was in London participating in a conference on the 200 years of the birth of German philosopher and economist Karl Marx (1818 - 1883), with remarkable British researchers, interested in socialism and anti-capitalist ideas, including Rachel Holmes, author of Eleanor Marx: A Life (2014) and Sylvia Pankhurst Natural Born Rebel (released this year), Clive Coleman and Jason Barker.
See here: https://www.bl.uk/events/karl-marx-imagined-and-the-young-karl-marx-screening
For over a decade, I had been the main researcher involved in the making of a film that became The Young Karl Marx, produced by JBA Productions and directed by Raoul Peck.
Trailer:
Born in Rhineland-Palatinate, Marx spent most of his working life in exile, fleeing an imperial regime banning socialist ideas, and finding refuge in England for more than 25 years.
And Marx is buried in Highgate, North London. The event to discuss his life and legacy in Britain was hosted at the British Library, in the heart of London. The film was also shown in highly artistic venues such as the ICA in London and the Watershed in Bristol.
Socialism and criticism of capitalism are entirely part of British history, and part of a healthy functioning society. It is outrageous to read a list that put anti-capitalist ideas next to crimes and denial of genocide. What could come next? Criticism of colonialism maybe? A few months ago only, the British terrorism police listed the ecological protest movement Extinction Rebellion as an “extremist ideology”. How far could this go?
Obviously, these sorts of guidance are highly worrisome. No country should be able, in 2020, the age of ever-flowing internet access and high achievement regarding the improvement of literacy to associate largely praised political ideas with some sort of crime.
The only comfort is that many already spoke to decry this measure.
The former shadow chancellor, John McDonnell said "the measures effectively outlawed reference in schools to key events in British history, and that it symbolised growing 'authoritarianism' within the governing Conservative party."
The economist and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said that the guidance showed “how easy it is to lose a country, to slip surreptitiously into totalitarianism”. He added: “Imagine an educational system that banned schools from enlisting into their curricula teaching resources dedicated to the writings of British writers like William Morris, Iris Murdoch, Thomas Paine even. Well, you don’t have to. Boris Johnson’s government has just instructed schools to do exactly that.”
The writer and activist Tariq Ali said the new guidance was a sign of “moral and political bankruptcy”.
Among many other thinkers, researchers, authors and journalists, I on the contrary believe we should teach all forms of political economy and even to young people. Growing up in France, I did have my first classes of civic education at the age of 10, and the first in sociology and history of economy from 13. Learning about ideas, learning critical thinking is indeed the only way to prevent citizens from being unable to make strong decisions when it comes to voting.
New piece for the Bylines:
While the media have failed to report it widely, NHS workers have already demonstrated twice since July. Marches took place in 30 cities on 8 August, bringing together thousands of people. NHS employees held a minute’s silence for the 640 colleagues who have died during the Coronavirus crisis. Then on Saturday, 12 September hundreds of people also marched in London, Cardiff and Bristol to demand a 15% increase in their salaries. I went to march with them, as I truly believe they deserve it.
We are living in exceptional circumstances. Since the British government is operating through extremely confusing forms of communication, the UK has become one of the worst countries in terms of its response to the Covid-19 crisis. The main comfort and only response to a health threat of such a level remains the National Health Service itself.
Yet NHS employees keep sending us distress signals. They are overworked, exhausted and underpaid.
After the two days of protests on 8 August and 12 September, some workers are planning a third event for October. Others would even be ready to strike.
British public health workers are indeed on their knees. Lack of resources, lack of PPE, precarious and underpaid positions and staff shortages all contribute to this crisis. Since March, caregivers have only been granted the government’s appeals to us, the citizens, to applaud them every Thursday evening…
They are now claiming a 15% salary increase. And legitimately so.
Many marchers I talked to at the protests in Bristol confessed to being unable to pay their bills, thinking about quitting their job or fearing going to work because of the excessive workload.
I met Alex, a young nurse who has been the coordinator of the group ‘NHS Workers Say No’ in Bristol. “This government is directly responsible for the failures regarding personal protective equipment (PPE), testing, tracing application…” he told the crowd in his speech at the march. “They failed to protect NHS employees and now they are failing once again and refusing to reward us for our sacrifices.”
The salaries of these workers have not been increased in 10 years, while this year their work has been increased tenfold by the Covid-19 crisis. One of the consequences of the lack of investment is that the NHS has found it difficult to recruit: more than 1,000 positions remain vacant. In addition, his colleagues also lack protection, masks, gloves, equipment. This is what determined Alex to act.
“We are marching against pay inequalities,” he told me. “NHS workers have been side-lined by a recent increase in public sector workers’ pay. Nurses earn an average of £6,000 less per year than 10 years ago. So we are protesting against that and to ensure that the government gives us a raise, one that we deserve. We have sacrificed a lot during this pandemic and because of the consequences of the coronavirus. This is what we are marching for.”
He regularly walks through the city to distribute flyers warning about their situation. Together with friends, they are now a group of dozens of caregivers: doctors, nurses but also medical assistants, students, physiotherapists, therapists, and many other care professionals that enable the NHS to function. A medical assistant told me on Gloucester Road, a few days before the protests: “Some are barely paid the minimum wage and that is really not enough. Now, across the country, we’re a group of 83,000 people so they’re going to have to listen to us.”
Both believe that a strike is possible if the government refuses to listen to their cry of alarm, even if they want to avoid such a measure in the midst of a pandemic. “Of course the Royal College of Nurses is against strike action,” Alex adds, “because if we strike people are likely to suffer. Sick people will lack care, and families will not receive proper support. This is why protests like these are so important for us to be heard. Because we cannot strike the same way other workers can.”
The British public supports, by more than 75%, the idea of a pay rise, as confirmed by one of the protesters. “Because not all of them can leave their posts, for obvious reasons, they need other workers’ solidarity and support. I think there should be a big demonstration organised by all the unions against all the measures of the government, their repeated lies, the lack of resources for the NHS, especially as the support to the unemployed will expire this autumn and there will be an increase in unemployment… Unions must act.”
While campaigning for Brexit, Boris Johnson had promised to protect the NHS and increase its budget. Since then, the opposite has happened. And many doctors and nurses even fear the privatisation of several branches of the public health system as well as layoffs.
Shannon, who’s been a nurse for three years, spoke during the protests, and said that although she loves her job, she often ends her day in tears. “We cry because we are overwhelmed, overworked and exhausted. People ask me: can you cope? Well actually, no, not really, but there’s no staff, so we’re going to have to try. First-year nurses have to take on a lot of responsibility, to manage even when it is beyond their skills and confidence. We have to ask: as a society, what do we value? Don’t we deserve a 15% increase? Don’t we deserve to end the month without needing to borrow money, because our wages no longer compensate for inflation? We live in a country that can afford to help its citizens. We can afford to support the NHS.”
This is an illustration of the agony of the country’s public services.
I hope this message finds you all well. September is for many the beginning of the new year... And I hope this will be for you the best possible renewal.As for me, I'm still in Bristol, preparing courses for UWE, looking at the future of journalism... Not a small task!And mainly, writing and podcasting.This seasonal, quarterly electronic letter is to share some news and new writing!Hope you'll like it.
New Cultural Review
During the summer though, I've been invited to collaborate to a wonderful project, launched by a literary journalist from L.A., California, Moroccan/French/American, currently based in Montpellier, France (not Bristol!)
New PlatformDuring the summer, I've been invited to collaborate to a new website, here in England, part of a great network working on independent journalism:
Written by Melissa Chemam
And... The Markaz Review is here!
Overcome by the staggering violence of the explosion that ravaged Beirut in August, Paris-based playwright and director Wajdi Mouawad suggests that a world public forum must condemn Lebanon’s ruling class.
Wajdi Mouawad has shaken Western theatre out of its rigid rules, bringing a dream-infused approach, odes to childhood’s energy and a sense of adventure, rooted in his Lebanese culture and fascination for great Greek tragedies.
In this wide-ranging essay, the writer revisits life before and after the civil war, participates in Lebanon’s revolution, imagines the country’s monetary implosion, and contemplates the Port of Beirut explosion—all while weighing the social terms of Lebanon's political renewal.
As the Covid-19 crisis is moving toward a second wave, forcing cities and some countries into more quarantines and further lockdown, without music, cinema, literature and artistic events, can we hold on much longer?
Dernier en date :
Plus de deux millions de salariés du secteur public sont appelés à se mettre en grève en Allemagne cette semaine. Les syndicats exigents des augmentations de salaire. Les salariés des services de soins et d'aide à la personne sont particulièrement remontés. Des grèves qui font écho à l'actualité au Royaume-Uni où les manifestations des salariés des hôpitaux se multiplient.
Le gouvernement britannique a accordé une augmentation à 900 000 salariés de différents secteurs publics en juillet, dont les médecins les plus qualifiés. Mais il a exclu la plupart des travailleurs hospitaliers, renvoyant à des négociations dans un an. Alors les salariés du secteur de la santé réclament désormais 15% d’augmentation de salaire. Reportage auprès d’eux de Mélissa Chemam.
Pour écouter: https://www.dw.com/fr/grèves-et-manifestations-des-salariés-de-la-santé-en-allemagne-et-au-royaume-uni/av-55038718?maca=fra-tco-dw
The latest on our podcast....
How to deal with Covid-19 without forgetting the boiling question of the climate emergency?
Here are great insight into practices from New Zealand:
We go to the other side of the planet this week to hear from Green Party candidate and former Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand Celia Wade-Brown.
Find out how she feels New Zealand has handled the Covid Crisis and why she thinks The Climate Emergency is more important.
We have our usual round up of positive responses to the virus from around the world....
Plus, courtesy of Funnel Music, music from Katy Pearson's debut album 'Return', due to be released on 13/11/2020 via Heavenly Recordings.
Music:
Opening music: Hot Flu, The Old Bones Collective
Hosts: Melissa Chemam and Pommy Harmar
Producer: Pommy Harmar
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