Music industry professionals are not, by definition, first responders, but they do have the ability to save people.
This fact alone can be a buoy for many music workers who suffer from their own form of burnout, despair or depression.
Reminding music professionals of the impact of their product is one of the best points delivered during 24/7: A Mental Health in Entertainment Conference, presented Aug. 7 by Belmont University in Nashville.
“I'll have people in the industry come up to me and say, 'Well, it's not like we're doing brain surgery. I know our position in the music industry is not that important,'' president of Entertainment Health Services Elizabeth Porter he said during the conference's “Work/Life Unbalanced” workshop. “I say it's more important… I say there are two big influencers in the world: the entertainment industry and politics.”
Politics is too often divisive. Music, at its best, can bring a group together — or, at least, an individual. Founder of Porter's Call Al Andrews he recalled a “very dark and suicidal time” decades ago when he found out Jennifer Warnes“Bernadette's song,” and she played it over and over again, relishing its healing message as she bounced back. During his work as a therapist, Andrews has come across many stories of songs that have led his patients back from the brink.
“We all have moments that save us, moments when we were sinking and someone threw us a rope and pulled us in,” he said during the day's closing session. “There is often music involved. Hope comes with a soundtrack. It almost always is.”
It is the power of music that draws many into the industry workforce. But experiencing emotional labor every day—especially when companies are understaffed and the work never seems to stop—makes music workers particularly vulnerable to burnout and depression. The allure of a profession associated with fame and entertainment amplifies the issue.
“We have a really unique industry because I think it's one of the only ones that ties so closely to our personal identities,” festival director C3 Presents Brad Parker he said. “The pandemic showed this to many of us. I felt like a part of me had been stripped away every time live music went away during the pandemic, and I did a lot of soul searching to really reinforce that people enjoy Brad Parker outside of the “He's the Bonnaroo guy” identity. “
Parker recalled how, during the first five to seven years of his career, he was more than willing to accept after-hours calls, fearing that if he didn't, others would be lining up to replace him. It's this fear that keeps many of the industry's worker bees buzzing at work late into the night.
“The industry is 24/7,” founder of Shading the Limelight Christy Williams he said, “hence the title of this conference.”
Williams, in the event's first presentation, explored the mindset of celebrities, whose emotions and behaviors affect their staff and ripple outward into the rest of the industry. Fame, he said, comes with two driving forces: a sense of unworthiness that creates self-imposed shame, and a competitive sense of entitlement that leads to unrealistic expectations. The prospect of celebrity drives a pendulum, Williams said, that swings back and forth between those points. If this phenomenon goes unchecked, the pendulum can become a wrecking ball.
“Success is much harder to manage than failure,” he said, “and when the pendulum swings faster and faster, it tends to derail us.”
This pendulum — and others — are inevitable. Mental health, Williams argued, comes from controlling swing and emotional response to it.
In recognition of the industry's fragility, the dean of Belmont's Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business Brittany Schaffer announced plans to create a Center for Mental Health in Entertainment. He named four leaders for a steering committee — Andrews, Onsite Workshops vp of entertainment and specialty services Debbie CarrollPrescription Songs A&R manager Rachel Wynne and founder/CEO of the Music Health Alliance Tatum Hauck Allsep — charged with shaping the program, which will eventually be housed in Belmont's Music Row building, slated to open in 2028.
“Until then,” Schaffer said, “we'll be working to build the team that will support the center so it can exist long before the building.”
Co-Head/Co-CEO of Warner Music Nashville Chris Lacy described four issues affecting the emotional well-being of artists and the industry around them: the tendency to compare their careers to their peers, negative criticism from social media, executives prioritizing self-promotion over their supportive role, and a “texture”. of scarcity' which, in all likelihood, leads to fear and depression.
An obvious solution for artists and business as a whole lies in the product of the industry itself. There is, Andrews suggested, a “noble purpose” in music, and every person in the business contributes to its influence.
“If you're in the industry, you're all involved in getting the songs out there,” he said. “Everyone in this room has a song that saved their life, and you're part of the songs that reach people's hearts. Some of these people, like you and me, are stuck on the edge or not in a good place, or maybe they're just fighting a big battle and you've been prepared [hope]. I want you to believe it. I want you to hug it. Be encouraged today in what you are doing.”
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