Making the wheels of music go round – views on music and money in and beyond Finland

For an artist, art is a means of making a living. But what are the revenue streams of musicians, composers and music makers these days, and how are they distributed among various artists and groups? What are the prospects of continuing to make a living in music in the post-pandemic future?

Funding of the arts is a hot topic in public debate in Finland just now. We invited five people thoroughly familiar with music funding to sit down and talk about how the funding of art music in Finland could be maintained on a stable basis. Bureaucratic though their titles may sound, they expressed themselves with clarity and addressed issues relevant for music professionals, consumers and decision-makers alike.

“From the viewpoint of direct artist funding, art politics since the 1990s recession have failed. The sector’s growth has not been matched by increased public funding.” Composer Pasi Lyytikäinen reflects on the progress and future views of composers’ livelihood in Finland.

“The coronavirus support measures allocated to the arts and culture sector in Finland have been modest by Nordic comparison and were not based on compensation of losses as would have been appropriate but on the grants system that is in place under normal circumstances. Also, they only offer solutions for the immediate needs caused by the crisis. Further anxiety is added by the fact that there are substantial cuts to the arts looming in the central government budget in the near future, and what will happen beyond 2024 is anyone’s guess,” writes Kaisa Rönkkö, Executive Director of Music Finland.

Composer Kimmo Hakola has been an expert consultant in cultural administration at home and abroad for the past 20 years. In this column, he discusses aspects of the Finnish grants system and the cumulative financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the music scene.