Been mulling this over all day. I'm a full time music maker despite the music biz - my last album got in the pop charts independently and I can't even get a prospective manager / publisher / label to answer an email. I apply for grants and usually don't get them. I'm reliant on https://twitter.com/MrTomGray/status/1249290407088881675

people CHOOSING to buy things from me, and the more we allow everything to become "free", the harder it is to make that elusive living a possibility. And of course that's pre-Coronavirus!

Now I'm seeing loads of musicians suddenly realise that online gigs are a thing (a fact I have enjoyed for 7 years and am very happy to see popping up more now) and that genuine engagement with music fans is more important than likes and stuff. All great. I'm someone who feels

the urge to give when something terrible happens, so seeing musicians gift their performances or raise money for charity is ace. I do fear, though, that if this becomes the new normal for some time, then live music also gets perceived as "free", and then what do we have left?

I write not as a popstar if independent means, or a person made wealthy by record sales. I work and save up as much as I can to make the next record, hoping to sell it to enough people to repeat the process. I think making music is a great privilege but it's also a real job.

So, just some thoughts! Thanks ever so much to those music fans who understand how stuff works and choose to pay for things in order for more things to be made, especially during these tough times for us all.

If you're a manager or a label or a publisher, I'd love to hear from you. I can make you money!

In the meantime, I'm launching my new solo project on 1st May and have written a little something about it here http://shemakeswar.com/decisions-decisions/