Thank you so much to each and every one of you that participated, shared and contributed in any way to the success of what we have deemed CC Survey #1.
There were 127 of you that partook in this survey.
This survey is now officially closed and I’d like to share the results here with you.
I’ll be honest, some of the results were definitely a bit surprising to me, while others were right on the mark with my suspicions, from the point of view of someone suffering along with those of you who have participated.
I’ve commented in italics some of my thoughts on the results revealed in this survey. I’ve not commented on location or jobs. You know who you are..Who we are. This data will be used in the bigger picture. I’ve decided to include it here though, so you can see how many of your country mates and work mates participated. Maybe we can double this on the next survey? You can help by spreading the word.
So without further blah, blah, yada, yada, here are the results:
1.) Where do you reside?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Sweden | 33% / 41 |
| United States of America | 25% / 31 |
| Germany | 5% / 6 |
| Argentina | 5% / 6 |
| Iceland | 5% / 6 |
| Finland | 5% / 6 |
| United Kingdom | 4% / 5 |
| Netherlands | 3% / 4 |
| Canada | 3% / 4 |
| Norway | 3% / 4 |
| Portugal | 2% / 2 |
| Belgium | 2% / 2 |
| Italy | 2% / 2 |
| Switzerland | 1% / 1 |
| Colombia | 1% / 1 |
| Chile | 1% / 1 |
| Ireland | 1% / 1 |
| Lithuania | 1% / 1 |
124 Answered. 3 Skipped
2.)What were you doing in live events, pre-Covid? Click all that apply.
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Production Manager | 25% / 32 |
| Tour Manager | 24% / 31 |
| Local Crew. Please specify your job in the field below (forklift driver, stagehand, rigger, etc) | 24% / 31 |
| Musician | 20% / 26 |
| Backliner (Guitar Tech, Drum Tech, Keyboard Tech, etc.) | 19% / 24 |
| Other (please specify below) | 18% / 23 |
| Manager | 14% / 18 |
| Touring Sound Engineer / Monitors | 13% / 16 |
| Touring LD | 12% / 15 |
| Merchandise Manager | 12% / 15 |
| Local / House Sound Engineer / Monitors | 10% / 13 |
| Sound and / or Lights Provider | 9% / 11 |
| Local Promoter | 9% / 11 |
| Hospitality / Backstage Manager | 9% / 12 |
| Booking Agent | 9% / 11 |
| Local / House LD | 7% / 9 |
| Backline Provider / Company | 5% / 6 |
| Catering | 4% / 5 |
| Bus / Truck Driver | 4% / 5 |
| Wardrobe | 3% / 4 |
| Videographer | 2% / 3 |
| Video Technician | 2% / 2 |
| Pyros | 2% / 3 |
| Merchandise Company | 2% / 2 |
| Camera Operator | 2% / 3 |
| Actor / Actress | 2% / 2 |
| Backliner (Guitar Tech, Drum Tech, etc.) | 1% / 1 |
| Venue Owner | 1% / 1 |
| Touring Rigger | 1% / 1 |
127 Answered. 0 Skipped
3.) If you chose “Local Crew”, please detail what your job was.
| ANSWERS | DATE |
|---|---|
| stagehand | |
| Rigger | |
| Dressing room assistant | |
| Merch / runner | |
| Local forklift/stagehand | |
| Stagehand/Crew Chef | |
| House jack of all trades (carp, rigging, video, fly, etc…) at my home theater. | |
| Runner team leader | |
| Spouse of a musician, band Twitter witch, Insta & FB watcher for inappropriate content and a “whatever someone will pay me to do in hospitality” as hoc gig worker. | |
| Stagehand, ground rigger. | |
| Crew Chief / Audio Monster | |
| Crew chief | |
| Designer | |
| Rigging stagehand fork op crew chief aso | |
| Tour/Event PR | |
| Stage crew | |
| Platschef | |
| stagehand | |
| Security. Line control. Emergency exits. Fire safety. | |
| Forklift driver | |
| Security, Medic | |
| Stagehand | |
| Promoter and independent organizer | |
| Rigger | |
| IA stagehand | |
| sound | |
| Stage Management, General Labour | |
| tech | |
| Rigger | |
| All of the above ticked boxes | |
| Stagehand, Carp, Loader, | |
| Crew booker, crew boss, senior stagehand | |
| Stagemanager | |
| Stagehand, Forklift operator, followspot operator, Stage/Steel, SITE, Security | |
| Stagehand, Forks, Stage Builder, Crew Chief | |
| Backline, Showcall, video, lights, loader, pyro etc..Everything really. | |
| Rigger. pyrotech. stagehand. | |
| Stage manager | |
| Security | |
| Security crew, Event hostess and local arena fire security. Not my main work, have another main work | |
| Stagehand | |
| stagehand |
4.) If your job wasn’t listed above, that DOES NOT make you irrelevant! Please submit your job here.
| ANSWERS | |
|---|---|
| Graphic Designer | |
| Art direction, graphic design and promotional content/ copy writer for bands, labels and festivals. | |
| SMM | |
| Technical production manager | |
| Runner | |
| Stage manager | |
| See last entry. | |
| Amateur musician, never made any money | |
| Everything Else | |
| UK Sponsor | |
| Designer | |
| Photographer | |
| Security. All kinds | |
| Local security and Medic | |
| Multimedia — Live (Corporate) events | |
| Photographer, Merchandise sales | |
| Stage Manager | |
| Security | |
| Event Electrician (Sparky) | |
| Tour photographer & social media content creator | |
| Project Manager |
21 Answered 106 Skipped
Each and every single one of these positions are crucial in what we do. Please don’t think for a moment that I forgot about you if your job wasn’t listed in the jobs to pick from. You are all essential to making the machine work.
5.) Have you received any financial assistance from your government (social welfare) in lieu of live events being canceled as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| No, I slip through the cracks as a freelancer / independent company. | 32% / 40 |
| Yes, and I am still able to collect. | 19% / 23 |
| Yes, but it has been extremely minimal | 18% / 22 |
| Yes, but it has since ended. | 10% / 13 |
| Does not apply | 6% / 8 |
| I haven’t applied. | 12% / 15 |
| No. I applied, but still haven’t received a penny. | 2% / 3 |
124 Answered. 3 Skipped
I expected that the majority of the answers here would be, “No, I slipped through the cracks”. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many were and ARE still able to collect. I’d be curious to know which country you live in, if you answered yes to this. Remember, this was an anonymous survey, so I don’t know who answered what. This does give me hope, however, that some countries “get it”.
6.)Have you received any financial assistance from non-governmental funding available to your profession in live events and/or entertainment?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| No | 84% / 104 |
| Yes | 16% / 20 |
124 Answered. 3 Skipped
This was not surprising.
What was a pleasant surprise, was the response to those who answered “yes”.
7.) If so, which fund?
19 people out of the 20 that answered “yes” stated the following:
15 people said Live / Crew Nation
1 Person said Wacken Foundation
1 Person said Musicares
1 Person said PRS
1 Person said Musikerförbundets Help relief fund (Sweden)
I have to be honest and say, it was very reassuring to see that Crew Nation has followed through and helped so many people out. I was not expecting this result.
8.) How long have you been working in live events?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| 11 – 15 years | 21% / 27 |
| 21 – 25 years | 20% / 25 |
| Over 25 years | 18% / 23 |
| 6 – 10 years | 17% / 21 |
| 16 – 20 years | 17% / 22 |
| 1 – 5 years | 7% / 9 |
127 Answered 0 Skipped
As you can see here, the majority of people here have been in their live event careers for over 10 years. This is not “a phase”. This is not “a hobby”. This is our livelihood!! You do not dedicate this kind of time, effort, energy, blood, sweat, tears, whatever you want to call it, to “a hobby job”. WE ARE ESSENTIAL.
9.) Do you have a local union for your profession in live events or entertainment?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| No | 80% / 96 |
| Yes | 20% / 24 |
120 Answered 7 Skipped
97% of the people who replied “yes”, were US based Unions. Clearly, things need to be done in Europe for our people. This was one that I was fairly certain I knew, and I was right. There is a serious lack of organization for live event workers in Europe. There are pros and cons to unionizing a trade and/or profession of course, but this is something that needs to be addressed.
10.) Do you have any of the following? Please click all that apply.
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Basic Schooling, no diploma or degree | 35% / 44 |
| High School Diploma (or equivalent) | 51% / 65 |
| Trade School Degree | 13% / 17 |
| College or University Degree | 44% / 56 |
| Other | 8% / 10 |
127 Answered. 0 Skipped
No surprises here. While many can and do go to school for what we do, a large chunk of this job is learning by experience. Working your way from the bottom, up. Absorbing info from the pros. Teaching each other along the way. Learning by doing and from your mistakes. No amount of schooling can prepare you for that. But we are NOT dumb. This is our passion. A book can’t tell you how to deal with a drunk moron who just spilled his beer all over your console. Or what to do when your bus driver is about to be arrested for talking back to a border patrol agent. While we’re book smart, we’re also problem solvers 24/7. Not everyone can do what we do.
11.) Have you been able to use your previous education to help find alternative means of work due to the Covid restrictions in our field?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| No | 46% / 58 |
| Does Not Apply | 34% / 43 |
| Yes | 20% / 25 |
126 Answered. 1 Skipped
As previously stated, what we do does not always depend on former schooling. I, for example, have a degree in communications. I’d be hard pressed to say that my degree has benefited me in finding work in my career. Now that restrictions are in place, my degree still carries little to no weight in the grand scheme of things, as I have dedicated my career to management and working live events. I was happy to see that there is a percentage of people who have been able to use their previous schooling during these times. I have a FOH engineer friend who was previously a nurse before going full time into live sound. She has been able to use that formal education as a means of not only financially surviving this pandemic, but also helping others.
12.) Have you been able to find other work since the restrictions have been put in place?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Yes, but it’s just a filler job until live everts resume | 29% / 36 |
| I have tried, but to no avail | 28% / 35 |
| I haven’t looked for anything | 23% / 29 |
| Yes, and in my area of expertise | 19% / 24 |
| I owned a company and had to file bankruptcy | 1% / 1 |
125 Answered. 2 Skipped
No real surprises here, and here’s why.
- We need to be able to provide for ourselves and our families. This means we need to be able to find a source of income to do this. In times like these, we will all do what we need to do to pay the bills, even if it’s just a temporary place of employment until our industry is up and running again at full capacity and things can go back to normal so that we can provide for ourselves through our normal means of income. OUR CAREERS. So filler jobs don’t surprise me. Often times, however, met with a sense of resentment because this is the last thing you want to be doing. You WANT to be doing your REAL job.
- Applying for jobs and having zero success doesn’t surprise me either. Age handicaps (you’re too young or you’re too old). Qualifications met by outside industry standards. Lack of proper certification or degrees, etc. These are all handicaps that prevent us from being considered for jobs.
- It also doesn’t surprise me that 23% of the people surveyed have not looked for work. Our mental health is suffering. It’s hard not to spiral into a state of paralyzing despair, yet somehow fueled by the remote underlying hope that “something will come up, because it always does”, which is the case a lot of times in our industry. A tour falls through, but there’s another one around the corner. You have some time off, so you work local gigs between tours to compensate. Not possible these days, however.
- Of those surveyed, 19% were able to find work in their area of expertise, which is thrilling to me. Unfortunately, that number should be much, much higher.
- One person out of the 127 people surveyed needed to file bankruptcy as a direct result of the restrictions to our industry put in place. This is unacceptable. I wonder how many people are on the brink of having to file bankruptcy or having to call it quits in a profession they have dedicated a good chunk of their lives to? These numbers are alarming.
13.) Would you be interested in getting a formal, professionally recognized vocational qualification to increase your employment opportunities based on your current skill set?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Yes | 38% / 48 |
| Yes, but I’m broke. | 31% / 40 |
| No | 19% / 24 |
| Yes, but I don’t have the time or the energy | 12% / 15 |
127 Answered 0 Skipped
Once again, no surprises here, but also, very reassuring. The frustrations we are all facing are very, very real. We’re literally going through the stages of grief and I think that some of us have come to the “acceptance” phase of the process. 38% of those polled said “yes” and another 31% stated that “yes, but I’m broke”, while 12% stated, “yes, but I don’t have the energy”, which I can throughly relate to. Again, this whole thing has been completely draining. However the fact that the majority of you are into this idea means you have not completely given up hope.
This might have been the most important result of this survey.
What we were asking here, is if you’d be interested in receiving some sort of formal further education that will excel you in your current field and will not only help highlight your current abilities, but also allow you the opportunity to grow with it.” This. This is where I think we need to be looking. And this is where I want C.R.E.W Coalition to come in and help. Do you know how invincible you can be if you take this horrible situation we’ve found ourselves in and flipped it to a form of empowerment to better yourselves? Truly give this virus and all of those who tell us we are non-essential the finger.
I suspect those who answered, “no” have their reasons. Or maybe it’s just the whole prospect of having to “start from scratch”. That’s not what I mean here. Quite frankly, that sounds fucking exhausting.
No.
I’m talking about helping to make you impossible to ignore, not only now during this crisis, but when and if things go back to normal, preparing yourself for the aftermath and any potential crisis that follows.
14.) Do you find that other sectors don’t understand what you do based on your CV or previous work experience in the live events industry, and that as a direct result of this, you are being overlooked for jobs that you are more than qualified to do, and in fact, could truly benefit with your particular skill set?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Yes | 70% / 89 |
| No | 30% / 38 |
127 Answered. 0 Skipped
As expected. If you’re like me, you have likely never even had to write an industry standard resume or CV. By industry standard, I mean the world outside of our own. You have worked your way to where you were before this virus prevented us from doing our jobs. I’ve had rough “resumes”, sure, but it was always strictly pertaining to what I have done in this business. Our business is like no other. I can list the bands that I have worked with, or the festivals I have done major projects for, but I don’t have the first clue how to relay everything that has gone into these jobs in a way the rest of the world will truly understand, therefore making me a viable candidate for a job that I am applying for during the interim.
This, of course, does not relate to all of us who have been affected by the Covid-19 restrictions, as clearly demonstrated by the results of the survey. Different positions are able to be understood in the real world. But for the majority of us, this is a true struggle.
These results provided further proof of what C.R.E.W Coalition needs to provide you with.
15.) In our experience, people truly don’t understand what we do and the incredible amount of value we can bring to any job that we do. Would you be interested in learning how to turn your CV into something that potential employers outside of the live events industry can understand?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Yes | 64% / 81 |
| Does not apply | 25% / 32 |
| No | 11% / 14 |
127 Answered. 0 SkippedExport
As stated in question 14’s analysis, this confirms that there is a need for assistance in this matter.
16.) There are two very obvious things that we need immediately. Financial assistance and for things to go back to normal so that we can work. I believe that the majority of us honestly just need to get back to the jobs we love doing. Doing what we love and what we have built our careers on. The financial assistance is a necessary evil as a result of restrictions in place that don’t allow us to do what we love and what we do best while earning a living wage. Unfortunately, these things seem to be prolonged with each passing week. What is the most important thing to you right now, besides these two extremely urgent issues?
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Being heard | 23% / 29 |
| Finding Employment | 27% / 34 |
| Feeling useful, needed and essential | 40% / 50 |
| Lobbying | 10% / 13 |
126 Answered. 1 Skipped
This one was actually heartbreaking, and relatable. I chose these options because they are the most relatable to my own feelings and needs in the current grand scheme of things. While all are equally validated, it was upsetting to see that the “feeling of being useful, needed and essential” were the most important things to you right now, besides the obvious of financial support and going back to normal. By 40%, even. With “being heard” not far behind. I use the word “upsetting” because it breaks my heart that so many of us feel this way. It is NOT ok.
This struggle is, in fact, very real, and reverts back to the mental health aspect of this issue. Being told repeatedly that you are not needed, not useful, non-essential, need to “get a real job”, etc. is devastating. Feeling that no one outside of our industry is listening, constantly being rejected or undermined in your cause is frustrating to no end. This brings us back to truly making the public UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE, what we do for not only the public, but also the economy, and what we are capable of. And while there are multiple, very successful programs and movements doing this by way of public awareness of our situation, this is not the only thing that we all need right now. We are, for all intents and purposes, left to our own devices.
WE HEAR YOU.
WE ARE LISTENING.
I formed C.R.E.W Coalition to be able to help you help yourselves. Come on..Let’s be honest here. We’ve almost always been on our own. We are an extremely special bunch of people who have found a way to successfully execute ways of doing what we love, which essentially, brings joy to others. We create memories. Very few other industries do what we do, the way that we do it (unnoticed) and are therefore often times, incapable of understanding what, how or why we do it.
As a result of being behind the scenes for most of our careers, ensuring the magic happens without the general public or audience ever knowing we were there, we have done our jobs properly. This is what we do. So it’s no wonder that people don’t quite grasp everything involved in making that 2 hour Beyonce show happen for them.
But we don’t do this for the glory of it all. We do this, because this is what we live for. We are needed, we are essential, we are heard, we are useful. We know this. We are humble. And I’ll be damned if we couldn’t be a part of solving this crisis if they would let us.
So, in lieu of this, we need to come out from behind the scenes. Pull away the curtain and let them see us and hear us. Show them that WE ARE VIABLE. That we can blow their minds with the experience we have and that they would be lucky to have any one of us working for them. Reveal to them for the first time that they need us, and that we are essential not only to our business, but to theirs and everyone else’s.
In order to do this, we need to find the ways to execute this in a smart, empowering way for ourselves. The sad fact is, not everyone is going to come out of this. Many people I know have already walked away from the music, entertainment and live events sector forever. This is not what I am suggesting. Nor am I suggesting that we need to conform to society’s measures of acceptance. Or that we need to start from scratch. What I’m saying is, you, the individual, needs to remember why you have been able to get this far in your live career as you have. You can endure anything thrown at you.
How?
You adapt and prevail. Life throws another curveball? Adapt and prevail.
The situation we find ourselves in as a result of Covid-19 is another one of those curveballs, although on a much grander scale than any of us have ever experienced or could have imagined. But what do we do? What do we, the badass bringers of everything live, do?
We adapt and we prevail.
If you are at the point in your personal process of dealing with this where you are ready to adapt, prevail, survive, and come out stronger than ever while staying true to yourself, then make sure you hit that subscribe button.
WE ARE ESSENTIAL.
17.) Would you be willing to participate in a couple of more online surveys so that C.R.E.W Coalition can figure out what you need MOST and come up with realistic solutions during these times? We hope so! Click yes if you’re interested and then sign up to subscribe to be kept in the loop.
| ANSWERS | RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| Yes, please! | 82% / 104 |
| No, thank you | 18% / 23 |
127 Answered. 0 Skipped
This is great news because I have a few more surveys coming up that I would love for you to participate in. Including one for the (in military terms), “private sector” to not only get a better grasp on what percentage of people attend live events, but also to inform by presenting questions that make one think.
To those 18% of you that have requested not to participate in further surveys, I am eternally grateful that you took the time to answer the questions presented in this one. So thank you so much for your time.
In Closing…
The information collected as a direct result of those of you who participated is priceless. You have both confirmed my suspicions and forced me to re-evaluate a few preconceived notions. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to do this. You are helping create something much bigger. I welcome any and all feedback that you may have interpreted as a result of the survey responses. Please feel free to comment below, or reach out to us via the contact page.
C.R.E.W Coalition surveys are and will always be completely anonymous. Future surveys will have an option to fill in your personal details, should you choose to do so, but will 100% NOT be mandatory.
Survey #2 will be up by Friday, October 23rd and will be open for two weeks.
If you are interested in participating and helping to spread the word of C.R.E.W Coalition, we invite you to subscribe below, follow and share on social media, and please share the surveys and news updates far and wide. The idea with C.R.E.W Coalition is for this to be a ongoing support system for individuals affected by crisis. Not just Covid 19, but beyond.