A new study warns of higher suicide risks among musicians

A new study on the mental well-being of musicians was carried out by the University of London and the results are not good. Its conclusion? “The music industry is a profoundly dangerous place.”

Although this is a British study, I’d guess that given the challenges musicians face everywhere in the world the results are pretty universal. Some key points:

• This is from Dr. George Musgraves, the study’s co-author: “Occupational mortality data in the US and the UK should make all of us who love and care about music stop and pause.”
• He continues “The rates of suicide among musicians which we reveal in this new research paints a picture of a music industry which is demonstrably unsafe.
• “No other industry would tolerate this level of loss of life and neither should we. The industry needs to get its house in order to confront levels of mortality which are profoundly upsetting and need to be tackled.”

If you want to read the entire study–which mentions Kurt Cobain, Chester Bennington, Avicii, Ian Curtis, and more–go here.