Executive Summary: • This report contains findings based on interviews with seventeen music creators living and working in Denmark, all of whom saw music-making as their main career, encompassing a range of genres, ages, career stages, levels of anxiety and depression, and levels of subjective wellbeing. • Interviewees reported a number of psychosocial challenges emanating from their work as music creators. A predominant theme was that of loneliness, understood herein as a feeling of isolation and a lack of support. • Female music creators suffered specific challenges related to sexism, misogyny and ageism. • Features of Danish society and the Danish music industry were highlighted as factors. These were: o Fragmentation across the music supply chain in Denmark. o Socio-cultural norms of Danish society. o Challenges they felt they faced within, or when exiting, the music education system. • Music’s healing abilities and the positive role it plays in people’s lives was also highlighted. • Interviewees highlighted two areas of reform which they felt might offer tangible improvements to their mental health and wellbeing. These were: 1) Structural reform and improvements in their working conditions. Three forms were noted: o Changes to methods of government subsidy for music creators. o Changes to better support the self-employed. o Changes to music industry working practices to emphasise cultures of care and understanding. 2) Initiatives to foster community, togetherness and knowledge sharing. Two forms were noted: o Easier access to music business information to enable career development. o Spaces for peer support. • Interviewees were clear that they valued forms of mental health intervention where it was undertaken by those with shared lived experience of music creators’ working lives. |