New Opportunity for Disabled Musicians

In the UK, 18% of our population is disabled. Around 54% of us work, compared with 81.9% of non-disabled people. In certain fields, the disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" is even starker; A 2021 report by Arts Council England suggested that only 1.8% of music industry workers identified as having a disability; suggesting that there's a good 16-ish% of lost opportunity and representation here.

Noticing contemporary world attempts to dismantle inclusion initiatives, many of us believe that things will not improve any time soon. So it brightened my day when I heard about the UnMute Artists Roster.

Events and live music company Continental Drifts, and their Arts Council funded project Global Local - in association with the MU and Attitude Is Everything - have together launched UnMute, a new initiative designed to empower disabled musicians and improve access to live performance opportunities across the UK.

The UnMute initiative and artist roster aims to:

• Provide flexible and supportive opportunities for disabled musicians, with a platform to showcase their talents
• raise awareness of the barriers and unique challenges disabled artists may face in the live music and events industries.

You can apply here; the form takes a few minutes to complete, and I found it relatively easy to follow. If you fill in the application today, they estimate that you should get a reply by late Summer.

I will admit, some information towards the bottom of the page did kind of fill me with dread:

Once your application is submitted you will receive confirmation that this has been completed. Applications will be reviewed and we will consider a variety of factors aligned with our usual intake processes. This includes things like the quality and artistry of your work as well as the suitability of your music for the type of events and clients who we work with; there is nothing specific we are looking for in terms of genre or performance style. Due to the anticipated volume of applications, we will only be able to contact artists who have been successful in applying.

And I guess that brings us full circle. To be transparent, I definitely think that it's worth taking the time to apply; this is a great opportunity - but it does tend to conjure images of 1000's of disabled people, scrambling towards an elusive prize. A great start then; but the Industry needs many, many more of these opportunities. Perhaps if we were given our due, Music would feel less like a fraught competition, and more like a wonderful, collaborative journey.

https://www.globallocal.co.uk/unmute-roster-application-portal

Posted by MagicalSynthAdventure an expert in synthesis technology from last Century and Amiga enthusiast.

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