Guest commentary: Feuilleton, FALTER 24/2024 from 11.06.2024
Sebastian Frese
Relief spread through the scene of freelance orchestral musicians in Vienna when an article about them appeared in Falter at the end of May. It was long overdue to publicly address the low salaries and poor social security of this seemingly marginal professional group. Apart from its social significance, the music industry is an economic factor that has an impact far beyond those directly involved. A recently published study on the "Added value of the music industry in Austria 2024" even states that it is the third strongest industry in the country, accounting for 2.8 percent of GDP and 7.5 billion euros in added value. Of course, this includes everything from the Zillertaler Schürzenjägers to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, from jazz cellars to film music studios.
However, the contribution of classically trained freelancers should not be underestimated. They form the artistic backbone of private and only lightly subsidized orchestras such as the Vienna Chamber Orchestra or the original sound ensembles Concentus Musicus and the Vienna Academy Orchestra, all of which are internationally renowned pillars of Viennese concert life.
One of the most renowned venues also benefits from the work of independent musicians. For example, the rental income that the Musikverein earns from the many touring concerts of the Vienna Mozart Orchestra and the SchlossCapelle contributes significantly to financing the expensive guest performances of the major international orchestras. The development since the beginning of the new millennium is a textbook example of what happens when a highly qualified - instrumental studies are costly and only accessible after a demanding admission procedure - but often economically quite naïve and unprotected by labor law "workforce" meets an unregulated new labor market. For a long time, things regulated themselves under the motto "live and let live" largely to everyone's satisfaction, but the mutual trust eroded over time. Employers had no negotiating partners protected by labor law who could have represented the interests of musicians
. The gap between the profits of many companies and the income of their freelance employees widened to such an extent that, adjusted for inflation, the salaries of the freelance scene have lost up to 50 percent of their purchasing power compared to the usual standards at the turn of the millennium, which has also resulted in lower
social security contributions. This will become a problem for those paying into the system when they retire at the latest. Old-age poverty among former freelancers is inevitable.
If this trend continues, it will lead to a deprofessionalization of the industry and the profession will become a hobby for freelance musicians. It is urgently necessary to find ways to improve their situation. The idea of a recommended fee, based on the lowest gross service value of a medium-sized national orchestra
, developed by the Interessengemeinschaft Freie Musikschaffende (IGFM), is a good approach for the area of substitute fees - substitutes fill in in professional orchestras when a permanent member is unable to play - and an important basis for discussion. However, making these amounts binding for the entire free market would lead to a form of market shakeout that cannot be in the interests of the vast majority of
freelancers. Private operators must be made to pay fairly, taking into account their different requirements. Large players have different options than small organizers. For example, an orchestra that plays more or less identical programs for a tourist audience year in, year out has a far lower rehearsal effort than ensembles that rehearse constantly changing pieces for usually only one or two concerts in their regular concert operations
. However, certain minimum standards must of course also apply to them.
The time is ripe to finally discuss appropriate remuneration, also in view of some summer festivals co-financed by taxpayers' money, which - often opened by state governors to great media effect - fob off their artists, often carted in from Eastern Europe, with undignified dumping fees.
The Falter report should be seen as a wake-up call: for event organizers to distance themselves from the black sheep of the industry and to once again perceive their artistic employees as the essential basis of their business and treat them accordingly; for politicians to take a close look at the conditions under which
some cultural events subsidized with taxpayers' money come about in the country and to finally set minimum standards.
And finally, for artists to reflect on their value and dignity and to reconsider their lone wolf attitude. If you want to be taken seriously and counter arbitrariness, you need strong collective representation. The structures for this exist, be it the IGFM, the Musicians' Guild or the trade union Younion. However, these groups need to be strengthened by substantial membership figures. It is high time for the industry to grow up,
and for those involved to seek a dialog on an equal footing based on mutual respect in order to finally create fair conditions together.
Sebastian Frese lives and works as a freelance oboist in Vienna.