Musicians Australia, part of MEAA, has released damning data showing nearly half of professional musicians earn under $15,000 annually.
Fresh survey results from Musicians Australia, a division of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), reveal widespread exploitation of professional musicians by an industry generating almost $9 billion in revenue each year.
More than 300 musicians were surveyed, exposing systematic underpayment, broken contracts and growing concerns about artificial intelligence threatening their future viability of work.
Findings paint a clear picture of musicians who are overworked, underpaid and undervalued. Some 44 percent of musicians reported earning less than $250 per gig, the minimum pay benchmark set by MEAA. Nearly half earned less than $15,000 annually from their music work, with 31 percent earning under $6,900. One in four performances violated contract terms, while 59 percent of gigs failed to pay superannuation.
Musicians Australia (MEAA) 2025 Survey
- 44% of musicians earn less than $250 per gig
- Nearly half earn less than $15,000 per year
- 31% earn under $6,900 annually from music
- 59% of gigs don’t pay superannuation
- 25% of performances violated contract terms
- 68% were paid for every gig (up from 53% in 2020)
- 85% concerned about unauthorised AI licensing deals
- Almost 75% say copyright protections are inadequate
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MEAA is calling on music companies, promoters, streaming services and venues to pay up and support artists. Australia’s musicians are highly skilled workers, with more than 70 percent holding formal music qualifications. Despite their qualifications, experience and significant contributions to the economy, most face systematic exploitation, income insecurity, relentless unrewarded effort and chronic undervaluation. Survey respondents indicated they rely on music as their primary source of income, yet barely make enough to get by.
Artificial intelligence emerged as a major threat, with generative AI systems producing synthetic work based on theft of recordings and compositions. Some 85 percent of musicians expressed concern about unauthorised licensing deals with AI companies, while almost three-quarters described copyright protections as inadequate. MEAA described the situation as unacceptable and untenable, made dramatically worse by AI threatening to displace musicians.
Musicians Australia is pushing for commercial operations to adopt the $250 minimum fee provision already implemented by most state and territory governments for publicly funded live performances. The union argues the music industry has been structured to effectively steal from those at its very heart: musicians themselves. Whether through live performance, recording, streaming or AI, musicians are being systematically ripped off.
Big music and tech monopolies face calls to pay up by implementing minimum fees, fair streaming payments and compensation when using copyrighted materials from professional musicians. MEAA wants the industry to negotiate a Code of Conduct for commercial live performances addressing minimum pay, bullying, harassment and exploitation.
Some positive movement appeared in the data, with 68 percent of musicians reporting payment for every gig they played, up from 53 percent in 2020. However, advocates argue this incremental progress remains insufficient given the scale of exploitation documented across the industry.
MEAA is urgently calling for stronger frameworks preventing AI theft and unauthorised licensing, with regulation ensuring control, compensation and consent for creative and media workers whose work trains artificial intelligence systems.
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