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Global Health Econ Sustain Musicians and COVID-19 in Brazil

Efforts to search for pharmacological interventions quarantine phase. For example, the guitarist and arranger
to control the pandemic were constant, but throughout from Rio de Janeiro, Luiz Felipe Lima, posted on his social
2020, there was no safe option of medication or vaccine media that he sold his seven-string guitar, a fundamental
for use in the population. Thus, the strategies used globally instrument for his profession, in an attempt to pay for
to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in this period were his personal expenses. In another example, an article
mainly the non-pharmacological ones (Wilder-Smith & published in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo highlights
Feedman, 2020). The main strategies consisted of social that “Musicians in social isolation are angry with the
distancing or quarantine, which means that people should streaming industry – amid the coronavirus pandemic;
stay at home during the pandemic, avoiding crowds, artists face financial problems, and criticize platforms
and leaving their households only to get food and other like Spotify.” It is also worth mentioning the solutions
essentials. Social distancing also included, among others, that musicians adopted, such as putting on live-streamed
the isolation of individuals who have tested positive for the performances on social media (which are more focused on
virus, and community actions to close schools/universities, promoting their work rather than raising money), holding
offices, and stores, make transportation schedule more online classes, and making video recordings.
flexible, and cancel social gatherings, sports, and artistic Therefore, we suspect that a considerable number of
events (Wilder-Smith & Feedman, 2020; Garcia & Duarte, Brazilian musicians are facing difficulties to continue to
2020). Social distancing measures have proven to be work and are struggling financially to survive. With this
effective in minimizing contagion and consequent spread research, we intend to investigate the intensity of social
of the virus (Lewnard & Lo, 2020; Saglietto et al., 2020). distancing and the living conditions of musicians in the

Although these strategies are crucial to minimize the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic, their income
spread of the virus, it is worth considering that they can and working conditions, as well as their emotional health,
have serious consequences on people’s lives, reaching as compared with the same parameters before the study
individual, family, and social economic dimensions, which period. We present descriptive results related to the
can lead to economic crisis and recession (Nicola et al., effect of social distancing on individual and household
2020). They also affect people’s emotional and mental income of the musician and the way to provide for their
health (Venkatesh & Edirappuli, 2020), and the work and livelihoods. In addition, we will also provide information
occupation of the exposed population. This situation led on working conditions and musical practices and the
to a rethinking of work processes to minimize the impacts effect of the pandemic on emotional health of the
of the pandemic on informal jobs (Spurk & Straub, 2020). population studied.
When health authorities in Brazil made social distancing 2. Methods
imperative to contain the spread of the coronavirus, most
of the more traditional spaces where musicians work were 2.1. Study design and sampling process
closed. From the big theaters to the bar in the corner, from This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study conducted
the big popular parties to the small samba circles, the absolute with data from a project titled “The EPI-Música Research:
majority of face-to-face meetings were canceled or postponed, The work of musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic
leading to a huge decrease in paid work among musicians. in Brazil.” Data were collected through the internet in
It is not easy to exactly pinpoint how and where a the period from July 3 to 25, 2020. The questionnaire
musician can perform. According to Requião (2010), the mostly included closed questions about demographic,
task of fitting musicians to a single model or standard of socioeconomic, cultural information, type of occupation,
professional performance also seems complex, and the and possible changes, as well as questions about the
class of musicians, as in other fields of work, continues to emotional health of the interviewees during the COVID-
adapt to the “productive processes of flexible accumulation” 19 pandemic. The study was conducted by means of online
(Requião, 2010, p. 178). According to the author, musicians survey, in which the respondents could answer the survey
work intensely in several areas of the productive chain of questions using cell phones, tablets, or computers, as long
as they had access to the internet. The questionnaire was
music. Requião concludes that musicians in general have prepared by the research group of this study, based on
an “autonomous and informal professional activity with a experiences, knowledge, and searches in similar research .
2
flexible schedule” (Requião, 2016, p. 258). Therefore, it is
difficult to evaluate the income generated from this work. All survey respondents were informed about their
voluntary participation and about the possibility
According to some news articles, musicians were facing of not answering any questions or not completing
some difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic since
most of their work options were unavailable during the 2 https://convid.fiocruz.br/index.php?pag=questionario_adulto

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.0434