What Are The Health Implications Of A Career In Music? AD FEATURE
What health challenges do professional musicians face in their career?
There’s never been a better time to choose a career in the music industry. Based on the available data, the United Kingdom is the most prominent digital music market in Europe, with revenues exceeding one billion U.S. dollars. Music streaming accounts for the majority of music consumption, which means the Brits are using services like Spotify, Deezer, SoundCloud, and YouTube Music. If you’re looking to become an artist, you need to have a range of skills on top of your actual craft, whether it’s songwriting, performing, or recording. For example, excellent time management helps prevent projects from spiraling into chaos.
Life as a musician is meaningful, and you wouldn’t trade it for the world, but it’s also stressful and challenging to sustain. You can experience a number of health problems related to the technical exercises and the interpretation of musical pieces, such as contact dermatitis, hearing loss, and even psychological issues like anxiety. Regrettably, substance use is rampant within the musical industry. Alcohol, cannabis, beta-blockers, and harder drugs like cocaine are deeply ingrained into the history and structure of the business of music. Nobody can take responsibility for your choices, behaviors, or the life you create.
Protect Your Musculoskeletal And Vocal Health
Instrumentalists or singers performing either in the studio or to a live audience are at risk for damage to muscular or skeletal systems, which can cause pain, loss of mobility, swelling, and stiffness. Competition in the field is high, so it’s necessary to dedicate hours of practice to maintaining and developing your skills. Nonetheless, if you don’t allow your body to recover sufficiently, you may experience serious injuries – perhaps a sprained ankle or a pulled muscle. Whatever your plans are after graduation, you owe it to yourself and your fellow musicians to protect yourself. The human body, as we all know, has some limits.
The question now is: How much activity is too much? There’s no simple answer, sad to say, because the amount of excessive activity required to produce adverse results varies from one person to the other. For example, if your musical routine is disrupted, you might find yourself overdoing it. Equally, if you take up a new instrument, you might exert yourself. Physical misuse happens when repetitive actions are backed up by a poor technique, such as a poor or lazy posture. It could also involve a mismatch between the artist and the instrument. E.g., singing too loudly or singing out of range.
Vocal health is of the essence for lifelong success, as it allows you to unleash your voice and produce a full, pure, tuneful sound. Sometimes, your voice recovers from strenuous activity swiftly, but other times, the effects linger, causing the vocal cords to get nodules and polyps. You practice alone, you practice with others, and practice you practice for concerts. Put simply, you practice a lot, so it’s normal to experience aches and pains. Keep your body hydrated, improve your posture when standing, and eat to have enough energy, but don’t eat so much that you’ll fall asleep.
The MU Provides Access To Healthcare Designed For Performing Artists
The Musicians Union (MU), which represents over 35,000 performing artists, ensures everyone has access to the range of quality health services they need. It has established partnerships with four organizations, namely:
The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine
Help Musicians UK
Music Support
Royal Society of Musicians
It goes without saying that musicians have special healthcare needs due to the physical and mental demands of the profession, which requires specialized knowledge, not to mention accommodative measures beyond what is considered routine.
You can access NHS services if you’ve sustained an injury or live with a condition that restricts your capacity to work, but waiting times can be long, so many artists choose to take out private medical insurance, which gives them a choice in the level of care they get. In 2023/24, the NHS received approximately 13,784 clinical claims. For those contemplating legal action, finding a guide on how to sue the NHS can be an invaluable resource in demystifying what often seems like a complex journey.
Tips To Keep Yourself In Tip-Top Shape As A Working Musician
When you prioritize health, you improve the quality of your life, boost your energy, and increase your mental clarity. By incorporating simple yet effective habits into your routine, you can stay in tip-top shape - it essentially means you’re at your best. Here’s what you need to do:
Warm up before practice sessions: Stretching promotes flexibility, blood flow, and a calm nervous system, preparing you for a more productive practice session. Moderate tempos allow your body to warm up.
Take regular breaks: Taking a break gives you time to refresh and refocus. Your voice will stay healthier when allowed the chance to rest, recover, and rehydrate. Play small fragments that don’t overtax the muscles.
Watch out for your diet: Avoid spicy foods and eat a balance of protein, foods and vegetables, and whole grains. Don’t eat too much food at once.
Keep your ears safe: You’re likely to experience hearing impairment from exposure to loud sound, so it’s best to use earplugs to ensure your hearing is as top-notch for as long as possible. Also, you must avoid exposure to volume levels no higher than 80 dB, especially for long periods of time. The risk of hearing loss is based on a combination of loudness intensity and duration.
As far as mental health is concerned, you must set boundaries and build a support network so you can cope with constant scrutiny, the pressure to succeed, and the demanding lifestyle.
Wrapping It Up
Moving up the career ladder comes with risks and responsibilities that are outside your core role, and you’ll be tempted to put in more effort to improve yourself. Still, nothing is more important than your health and no job is worth risking for it. Balance ambition and well-being to combat the effects of high stress by prioritizing self-care using the knowledge and information available to you. Speak up if you’re feeling helpless.
