Music charity Help Musicians has launched a new standalone organisation geared towards mental health support. Music Minds Matter, initially a service and helpline provided by Help Musicians, will now be run by the new charity following a restructure.
The restructure partly recognises that, while Help Musicians is targeted towards musicians themselves, the Music Minds Matter service supports anyone working in the music industry. The creation of Music Minds Matter follows a 30 percent increase in helpline calls, and means that any fundraising activity focused on mental health provision will exclusively fund that support.
The new charity will be chaired by Silvia Montello, who is also CEO of the Association For Electronic Music, with FUGA’s Gareth Mellor, PPL’s Juliette Edwards, United Talent’s Maria Way, Utopia Music’s Melanie Johnson, Amazon Music’s Paul Firth, Warner Music’s Reni Adadevoh and Help Musicians trustee Jim Benner all joining the board.
Speaking on the formation of Music Minds Matter, Help Musicians chief executive officer James Ainscough said, ‘Since Music Minds Matter launched in 2017, we have seen the need for mental health support continue to grow year-on-year. Musicians and those who work in music have been through an incredibly difficult time during the pandemic. And, sadly, coming out the other side is proving just as challenging, if not more. So the time is right to set up Music Minds Matter as a single-focus charity.’
Silvia Montello, chair of Music Minds Matter, added, ‘Having worked in music my entire career, I have sadly seen and experienced first-hand the devastating impact on the mental health of too many great colleagues, friends and artists. Music brings such joy to so many people. We need to ensure that no one involved in creating and sharing it across the music-loving community is left to suffer the effects of stressful, unhealthy and often precarious livelihoods, and is able to share in that joy and to thrive in their own daily endeavours.’
