Sing Out Loud, Sing Out Long - A Profile of Professional Contemporary Gig Singers in the Australian Context

Abstract

Globally and nationally, the vast majority of professional singers work in the contemporary commercial music industry, yet little is known about them as a population. This research project sought to create an accurate profile of professional contemporary gig singers (PCGS) as a population in the Australian context by giving voice to the livedexperience of PCGS. Using a mixed-methods model, the study collected data from 102 PCGS who met the criteria for inclusion by performing, “6 or more hours per week” calculated as an annual average. The participants provided information about current and past career characteristics including: singing training and performance styles, performance environments, on the gig and after the gig behaviours, voice problems and symptomology, and beliefs about factors which affected their vocal health. They did this by completing a survey questionnaire and their responses to the closed and open question format were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. This research led to a number of outcomes. It provides the first profile of the professional attributes and experiences of a representative group of Australian PCGS. Importantly, the knowledge gained from the self-reports of the 102 PCGS participants in this study highlights the complexities of their performance working lives and challenges the widely asserted view in the literature that there is an ‘inevitability of vocal damage’ resulting from the performance of contemporary music styles. In so doing, it provides an important context for the development of an effective and appropriate pedagogy for PCGS and all singers of Contemporary Commercial Music styles.