Some research and statistics from the UK: Musicians' Union - The Working Musician

An interesting read of research/statistics from the UK, "The Working Musician" commisioned by the Musicians' Union. There's a link to a PDF-file containing the research's key findings at the end of the article.

- 60% of musicians report working for free in the past 12 months
- Only 35% of musicians pay into a pension scheme
- Over half (56%) of the musicians surveyed earn less than £20k
- 1966 working musicians in the UK completed the survey; 90% of these were members of the Musicians Union.

http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/60-of-musicians-worked-for-free-in-past-year-mu-report/052914

As a music hobbyist who's not from the UK, all of that looks a bit worrying (although not that surprising).