In this article, the good people at 6/8 Music highlight Music Minds Matter, a UK based initiative which works to provide musicians with comprehensive mental health support, including advice, signposting, and professional therapeutic services.
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Guest post from the 6/8 Music Blog
At 6/8 Music, we try to be more than just a record label. We are loud and proud in our pursuits to empower women, amplify marginalized voices, and break mental health stigmas. Inspired doesn’t even begin to cover our feelings toward organizations working toward the same vision of equality and understanding in our society. For all of our admiration, we have created a monthly feature series on organizations that inspire us to work harder and smarter toward the goal of a better present, and a better future.
Music Minds Matter
Music Minds Matter is an initiative that is incredibly near and dear to our hearts. The intersection of mental health and art is impenetrable, since art, specifically music, is so interwoven with the mind. Between songwriting and touring, spending time in the spotlight while laying one’s self entirely bare through their art, musicians’ mental health is put through the ringer. The business in all aspects can be extremely isolating. And unfortunately, resources to keep musicians’ mental health in check are limited. That’s where Music Minds Matter comes in.
Music Minds Matter stems from the efforts of Help Musicians UK, an independent charity founded and based in the UK dedicated to serving musicians and offering resources for their mental health. Music Minds Matter operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as a support hotline and service for the whole UK music community. According to their website, “[Music Minds Matter] is the industry’s most comprehensive service yet – linking advice, signposting, clinical pathways and professional therapeutic services to Help Musicians UK’s (HMUK) traditional grants for musicians in need.”
Music Minds Matter also caught our eye for their efforts in intersectionality and their support of women in music, another initiative near and dear to our hearts at 6/8 Music (we are a company by women, for women, after all). On their website, they have included findings from a study by the University of Westminster and MusicTank regarding the working conditions of musicians. These findings expressly included that women musicians experienced unique, compounded issues in their careers, from sexist behaviors to harassment. Additionally, Music Minds Matter is promoting “Fighter” by Tyni as the theme song for the organization as a whole. “Fighter” soars with confidence, despite its subject matter pertaining to the darkness of mental health stigma. You can support the cause by streaming the song here.
Music Minds Matter is deeply necessary resource for musicians and music business professionals. According to their website, once successfully implemented in the UK, the charity has ambitions to roll out the service with global partners in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Resources like this are necessary worldwide, and we hope to see waves of support for the incredible work of Music Minds Matter, so that those resources can be available to even more musicians around the world.
If you are a musician based in the UK seeking support, call Music Minds Matter at 0808 802 8008.
To learn more about Music Minds Matter, visit their website, and be sure to follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube page. If you’d like your organization, or a colleague’s organization featured on our blog, please email us at staff@68records.com, and you may be featured on our blog in the coming months.
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