Earlier this month, Chappell Roan closed her rousing Grammy Awards speech with a pointed question: “Labels, we got you, but do you got us?” That one moment of advocating for artists to have access to livable wages and healthcare has already inspired tangible results in the music industry. Universal Music Group has partnered with the Music Health Alliance to launch the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, which will provide mental health services to current and former music professionals, even those not connected to UMG.
“We have been working on ways to establish a streamlined pathway for mental health access, funding, and care planning,” UMG’s Chief Impact Officer Susan Mazo shared in a statement. The service isn’t a sudden response to recent discourse around healthcare in the music industry, though the timing isn’t insignificant. UMG and MHA previously launched a healthcare access program in 2021. “Growing and continuing our partnership with Tatum and the Music Health Alliance was the most natural way to ensure continuous and effective mental health support for anyone working in our industry,” Mazo added.
The Music Industry Mental Health Fund will provide referrals to mental health counselors and psychiatrists and assist with financial costs through grants and other funding resources.
“Music Health Alliance possesses the comprehensive resources necessary to address the full spectrum of mental health needs for music industry professionals,” MHA Founder and CEO Tatum Hauck Allsep said. “This includes financial assistance, a continuum of care for both mental and physical health, and wraparound services such as psychiatric support, facilitation of intensive outpatient and inpatient programs, and data collection.”
Earlier this week, Roan announced a partnership with Backline, a non-profit organization providing music industry professionals with access to mental health and wellness resources. Her initial $25,000 donation has since been matched by Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Lauv, and Noah Kahan, who previously partnered with Backline for his own non-profit mental health foundation, The Busyhead Project. Live Nation, AEG Global Touring, the Wasserman Foundation, and more donated the same amount, per the official We Got You campaign site.
Earlier this week, Ariana Grande called on music, television, and film companies to provide mental health resources for young performers, including weekly therapy sessions. “It’s so important that these record labels, these studios, these TV studios, these big production companies make it a part of the contract when you sign on to do something that’s going to change your life in that way, on that scale,” the actress and singer said on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast. “You need a therapist to be seeing several times a week.”
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