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Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers
Sony Music launches new programme providing well-being support for artists
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 1 October 2021
Sony Music yesterday announced a new scheme offering artists working with the major access to free counselling services, via which they can arrange confidential sessions with a licensed therapist to discuss things like stress, anxiety and depression.
The new scheme, called Artist Assistance, is part of Sony Music’s wider Artists Forward programme, which aims to position the music company as the artist-friendly major. It was under the same programme that Sony committed to pay royalties through to artists on pre-2000 contracts who have yet to recoup on their old record deals.
The mental well-being of artists in the music community has become a much bigger talking point in recent years, of course. Part of the challenge is how artists – who are usually basically self-employed – can access the support they need in this domain, especially those artists operating at a level where cash flow is often a challenge.
There are some great charitable schemes in some countries offering this support, of course, though for many artists, having access to a service like Sony’s Artist Assistance could be hugely beneficial.
In a letter to artists, Sony says that the Artist Assistance programme will offer “free, confidential counselling services to address stress, anxiety, depression, grief, family and relationship matters and more. Active roster artists around the world can connect with a dedicated, licensed therapist at no cost and use of the programme is completely confidential”.
Many artists in the US, it adds, are also “eligible to access qualifying healthcare and retirement services available through Sony Music’s affiliations with leading artist organisations, such as unions representing US artists”. The new scheme will also provide guidance on how to access those services.
Alongside the new well-being scheme, Sony has also announced that Susan Moultrie has been appointed SVP Of Artist Initiatives And Business Administration, and in that role she will coordinate the wider Artists Forward programme moving forward. That will also include providing artists with more information about how the business works.
