Universal Basic Income: battling the eight giants of the precariat

It’s a long way to the top, and often a rocky road too. Many – both aspiring as well as established – musicians need to supplement their income with all sorts of side-jobs, and often struggle to meet a living wage. Can we imagine a world in which a career in music does not equal being penniless? Recent experiments with a basic income such as the Basisbeurs of Dutch Into The Great Wide Open festival or Irelands Basic Income for the Arts scheme, in which recipients unconditionally receive a regular monthly allowance, provide such an alternative. After a kick-off lecture by London based economist Guy Standing on the eight biggest challenges music sector workers face, and how the universal basic income can provide a solution for this, the panel will discuss the potential and consequences of a basic income on musicians and the music industry.