My name is Per Lindvall. I have had a long career as a freelance drummer for several European artists, among them ABBA. Today I make my living through live performances, as the recording industry has changed massively in the past decade. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing all concerts and recording sessions to be cancelled, for months ahead, I’m now out of work. And because I am freelance, I get no income at all when work is cancelled due to the pandemic. 

And I’m far from alone. There are hundreds of thousands of musicians like me, suddenly without work. Actors are facing the same catastrophe.

That’s why I’m calling on the EU to create a fund to support performers like us to survive. 

Many are worried about how to pay the bills the coming months. How can we survive for several weeks with no streams of income?

Maybe you will say, what about streaming? Everyone is at home, listening to music and watching videos. Don’t you get money from that? No. The big artists get a very small percentage through their record companies, but musicians like me get nothing. I played on several ABBA tracks but I don’t get any royalties, even though they have been played hundreds of millions of times on Youtube, Spotify and Deezer. The streaming services do not pay performers. 

Our income relies almost exclusively on live concerts today. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have no work. For many, this is a catastrophe. 

Our governments and the EU have responded to the crisis with measures to help employees and businesses. We are freelancers, so we don’t receive that help. 

This is a heartfelt plea from musicians, artists and actors in Europe to our governments and to the EU. Please help us. Please set up a COVID-19 Solidarity Fund for Performers. Please help us so performers can survive the next few weeks, until live sessions – and our regular life can go back to normal.

Like everybody else, we pay tax to the tax authorities on our earnings and we have organisations in the business who help us get paid. They know how much we normally earn. They can help governments and the EU get some support to us. And we need this quickly. Our live engagements were cancelled immediately. Our work stopped suddenly. We need this help now. 

And finally, I ask my fellow musicians, artists and actors to sign this petition. We are all in this together. Let’s ask for help together. 

Sign and share. Now.