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MMF launches updated mental health guide at The Great Escape
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 14 May 2021
The UK’s Music Managers Forum has today published a new version of its ‘Guide To Mental Health’, updating the free resource it originally produced in partnership with Music Support and Help Musicians back in 2017.
The new expanded version of the guide has been co-authored by Sam Parker of specialist music mental health consultants Parker Consulting, who is also a co-founder of Music Support. Among the topics covered are stress management, imposter syndrome, anxiety and depression, alcoholism and drug dependency, and healthy boundaries. The guide is being launched with a panel discussion at the online edition of The Great Escape.
Commenting on the new version of the guide, MMF Chair Paul Craig says: “I’m really proud that the MMF continues to recognise the importance of mental health support for music managers and artists. Through initiatives like this updated guide and our revised Code Of Practice we continue to be part of a vital industry-wide conversation”.
“Managers and artists often experience extreme stress, with a myriad of highs and lows, which has only recently been properly recognised and which the pandemic has exacerbated and placed immense focus on”, he goes on. “The more we talk openly and candidly about these pressures, the better the safeguarding and guidance everyone will be able to provide in the coming years”.
Meanwhile, co-author Parker adds: “Music has the power to educate, to break down cultural, social and economic barriers, to influence politics and promote cultural appreciation. As an audience member at a live show it can make you dance, sing and share a common experience with those around you that will be remembered forever. It enriches the human experience”.
“What better job could there be than to facilitate this?”, he continues. “But sometimes the level of intensity can take its toll. This updated guide takes some of those challenges and presents solutions, which I hope will allow artist managers to successfully support the work and careers of their artists without sacrificing their own health and well-being in the process. All whilst performing a job that is truly unique. I look forward to discussing the nature of this relationship and the guide at the Great Escape today”.
You can download the new guide here.
