Danish artists
has combined revenues

The new statistics from Denmark Statistics quantifies artists' earnings and how they are distributed.

The artists are divided into types of income: salary income 40 % - combined income 50 % and pension/public benefit 10 %.

For the 40 % of artists who predominantly earn a salary, the number of income sources averages 6 per year, while the large group of 'combiners', who make up 50% of all artists, have an average of 8 income sources per year.

In music, 441 FTE3T of all musicians have a combined income and in acting and performing arts the figure is even higher at 59 1 FTE3T.

The labour market is not set up for combiner incomes

For most artists, the various sources of income consist of a combination of income, including salary, fees, grants, royalties and profits from their own business.

The statistics document the reality that Danish musicians and performing artists know first-hand, namely having many different projects, jobs and engagements over the course of a year.

The many working relationships demand a lot from the artists, says Sara Indrio:

"The fact that artists and musicians are able to create and work so flexibly gives our cultural life a great range. In recent years, we have seen many studies that show that versatility comes at a high price for some: Artists who jump from job to job are extra vulnerable in terms of well-being, and society's safety net has large gaps simply because artists are not traditional employees or self-employed in the classic sense."

Artistic work pays off

The report also documents that musicians and performing artists who earn 75-100 per cent of their income from artistic work have a higher income than those who combine their income with other work.

This is good news, says artist spokesperson Sara Indrio:

"The income figures confirm the picture we see in our professional advice, namely that the specialised artistic work performed by artists and performing artists also increases income."

How much revenue is reinvested?

Sara Indrio believes it's important to highlight the resources that the artists themselves bring to art:

"In our experience, there is a lot of reinvestment out of the artists' own pockets, both in terms of time and money. For most freelancers, the income has to cover quiet periods in the calendar and finance new productions. We are very interested in knowing how much of these expenses are borne by the artists themselves. This also makes it difficult to compare artists' income levels with those in other professions."

Behind the average are large differences in income

Behind the average figures are also some big differences - both in the size of the income, but also how it is distributed between men and women.

The average income for male artists is higher than for female artists across all art forms, according to Statistics Denmark. The average income of a male artist is DKK 444,000, while it is DKK 384,000 for female artists.

The difference in average income between male and female artists in music is 19 per cent for those who have a combination of multiple income sources as their main source of income, but 8 per cent for those where salary is the main source of income.

In acting and performing arts, the difference in average income between male and female artists is 11% for those with a combined income and 20% for those where salary is the primary source of income.

"It's very disheartening to see these figures, and it can only be too slow to change this picture. Of course, there may be deeper explanations for the inequality, but the bottom line must be that we get equal pay for equal work."