MMF: 60% OF U.K. MANAGERS MAKE MINIMUM WAGE

More than half of the 176 members of the Music Managers Forum surveyed for a report titled "Managing Expectations" are barely scraping by financially.

And while employment in the U.K. music manager community has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels, results indicate only 17% of respondents are earning above £50k per year, while 60% are surviving on less than minimum wage.

The vast majority of respondents are self-employed or freelance (90%). While 39% have been in management for between one to five years, there was a significant drop in how many professionals continued to work in the field after that amount of time. Between 2021 and 2023, there was a 13% reduction in people entering this sector of the business.

Additional findings included that 22% of women in management earn more £30k, compared to 29.6% of men. The median gross annual earnings for full-time employees was just under £35k in April 2023.

Meanwhile, 43% of respondents identified as women, down from 47% in 2021, while 29% have a Black, Asian or other ethnic background, up from 20% in 2019.