It’s bad enough for classical musicians but pop musicians have to face another ignorant prejudice, which is that they earn far too much anyway. The truth is that most musicians, apart from salaried orchestral musicians or choral singers, just about scrape by on freelance gigs. The MU reckons that 70 per cent of its members earn less than £20,000 per year from music. Inevitably many have other jobs on the side, and this further undermines their status as professionals. And it has to be said that some musicians connive at their own exploitation, accepting beggarly fees because it’s better than no fee at all.