Abstract:
In Portugal, the creative work on popular music has not been the object of up-to-date scientific investment. This situation is pressing in what concerns the constraints that have been accentuated in the pandemic. Based on semi-structured interviews, this article maps inequalities and impacts of COVID-19 on the creative work of 40 Portuguese musicians – the fruit of an ongoing transnational research involving Portugal, the UK and Australia. Research has revealed a paradox facing creative musical work: while on the one hand this labour market presents cultural openness, dynamism and cosmopolitanism, on the other, it reveals patterns of inequality in terms of gender, precariousness of ties, contractual informality, atypicality of tasks (SMITH, THWAITES, 2018; THREADGOLD, 2018). These patterns of inequality have been severely accentuated by the pandemic. It is therefore important to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on the music production processes of young Portuguese musicians situated in the diverse and pluriform spectrum of popular music. All over the world, governments have imposed restrictions on social life in order to control the spread of COVID-19. Many measures will have to be maintained in the long term, some even becoming part of the “new normal” for these musicians, leading to a rethinking of key concepts such as risk, fear, panic, crisis and confidence.
Keywords: Creative work; Popular music; COVID-19; Inequalities; impacts
GUERRA, Paula; OLIVEIRA, Ana & SOUSA, Sofia (2021) – Um Requiem pelas músicas que perdemos: percursos com paragens pelos impactos da pandemia na produção musical independente em Portugal. Revista O Público e o Privado, vol. 19, n.º 38, pp. 171-198.
@Vera Marmelo
