<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Ordinary musicians are a relatively hard to find population. Based on the results of the research project Musicians’ LIVES carried out between 2012 and 2015, this article presents the working situation of performing musicians in French speaking Switzerland. We compare the social characteristics of the musicians with the active population. We then analyse musicians’ relationship to work and examine the composition of their income. Three main ways of being a musician in Western Switzerland are presented: the “craftsman,” the “teacher” and the “artist.”</p></abstract>

Ordinary musicians are a relatively hard to find population. Based on the results of the research project Musicians’ LIVES carried out between 2012 and 2015, this article presents the working situation of performing musicians in French speaking Switzerland. We compare the social characteristics of the musicians with the active population. We then analyse musicians’ relationship to work and examine the composition of their income. Three main ways of being a musician in Western Switzerland are presented: the “craftsman,” the “teacher” and the “artist.”

Being a Music Performer in French Speaking Switzerland: Relationships to Work and Employment

Laboratoire capitalisme, culture et sociétés

Swiss Journal of Sociology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Ordinary musicians are a relatively hard to find population. Based on the results of the research project Musicians’ LIVES carried out between 2012 and 2015,...

Being a Music Performer in French Speaking Switzerland: Relationships to Work and Employment

Published Online: May 29, 2017

Page range: 309 - 334

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjs-2017-0017

Keywords
musicians, musical work, Western Switzerland, popular music

© 2017 Marc Perrenoud et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Being a Music Performer in French Speaking Switzerland: Relationships to Work and Employment

Published Online: May 29, 2017

Page range: 309 - 334

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjs-2017-0017

Keywordsmusicians, musical work, Western Switzerland, popular music

© 2017 Marc Perrenoud et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
musicians, musical work, Western Switzerland, popular music