NZ Charity Launches World-first Wellbeing Service Specifically For Musicians

The New Zealand Music Foundation has unveiled the NZ Music Foundation Wellbeing Service, offering 24-hour online, over-the-phone and in-person counselling to those musicians in the country facing emotional, physical and mental health challenges.

With World Mental Health Day just around the corner, on 10 October, the service's arrival is well timed and billed as a world-first, being freely available to anyone who is working in the New Zealand music industry and is unable to access help through other channels due to hardship or other mitigating circumstances. The news comes in tandem with a poignant launch video featuring candid interviews with Kiwi music stalwarts such as Shihad members Jon Toogood and Phil Knight, Split Enz's Mike Chunn, folk singer-songwriter Holly Arrowsmith and Rio Hemopo of Trinity Roots discussing their own personal struggles and turning points.

"We've worked hard to listen to the voices of those making their way in music in New Zealand," NZMFWS general manager Peter Dickens said in a statement. "It's a vibrant, vital and exciting industry and we're very proud to be able to launch this service today . We hope it will further support Kiwi music people to enjoy healthy, productive and fulfilling lives in their chosen careers."

The NZ Music Foundation Wellbeing Service was established following the findings of July's New Zealand Music Community Wellbeing Survey, which demonstrated, from a poll of more than 1350 industry people, that many "are experiencing health and wellbeing issues at incidence rates often far in excess of the general population", but that nearly two-thirds "would be likely to contact a service such as the New Zealand Music Foundation Wellbeing Service if they were experiencing difficulty".

The survey's results indicated that more than twice as many songwriters, composers and performers report having attempted suicide than the general population, while more than 33 per cent of respondents repoted having been diagnosed with a mental health disorder — again, about twice the incidence of the general population.

Further results suggested musicians were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression than the general population, while 84% reported having experienced debilitating stress over the past 12 months.

The New Zealand Music Foundation was established in 2012 and supports members of the country's music industry through periods of illness, distress and hardship, as well as developing and supporting music-centric projects across areas including healthcare, education, rehabilitation, volunteering and more. 

The NZ Music Foundation Wellbeing Service is up and running online now, and can also be reached via email or telephone (0508 MUSICHELP).