Dr George Musgrave

Dr. George Musgrave FRSA studies the psychological experiences and working conditions of creative careers, with a current focus on mental health and wellbeing in the music industry. He co-led a major research project entitled 'Can Music Make You Sick?' alongside Sally Anne Gross on mental health and the music industry exploring the links between anxiety/depression and precarious work, the book of which was an Amazon Number 1 Best Seller in the Sociology of Work. He has also done work on ethical decision-making by music managers, and wellbeing in the gig economy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

His work broadly covers three research areas:

• Wellbeing and mental health in the music industry (Chaparro & Musgrave, 2021; Musgrave, 2020; Gross & Musgrave 2016, 2017, 2020; Gross, Musgrave & Janciute, 2018)

• Cultural entrepreneurship (Athanassiou & Musgrave, 2021; Musgrave, 2014)

• Intermediation in cultural markets (Musgrave, 2017)

His work led directly to the establishment of the first 24/7 mental health helpline for musicians - Music Minds Matter - launched in 2017. His research has been featured by media outlets including BBC News, Pitchfork, Mixmag, GQ, The Financial Times, BBC Introducing, The Grammys, Billboard and more.

He is also a musician who has signed both major recording and publishing deals with EMI/Sony/ATV. His music has earned support from the likes of Mike Skinner, Plan B, Ellie Goulding and Ed Sheeran, and he has been labelled 'Middle England's Poet Laureate' by BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra DJ MistaJam. Prior to signing to his record deal, he was the first ever unsigned artist to win a place on the coveted MTV 'Brand New' list, and has played at festivals including Reading, Leeds, Wireless and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend.

EDUCATION: 

2014: PhD Politics, ESRC Centre for Competition Policy (UEA)

2010: MA Politics, Philosophy and Economics, University of East Anglia

2009: M.A (Hons) Social and Political Science, University of Cambridge

Gross, S & Musgrave, G (2016) Can Music Make You Sick? A Study Into the Incidence of Musicians' Mental Health - Part 1: Pilot Survey Report, Help Musicians UK/MusicTank

Gross, S & Musgrave, G (2017) Can Music Make You Sick? A Study Into the Incidence of Musicians' Mental Health - Part 2: Qualitative Study and Recommendations, Help Musicians UK/MusicTank

Musgrave, G (2017) Collaborating to Compete: The Role of Cultural Intermediaries in Hypercompetition, International Journal of Music Business Research, Vol.6(2), pp. 41-68

Gross, S., Musgrave, G & Janciute, L (2018) Well-Being and Mental Health in the Gig Economy: Policy Perspectives on Precarity, CAMRI Policy Briefs, University of Westminster Press

Musgrave, G (2019) Making Sense of My Creativity: Reflecting On Digital Autoethnography, Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, Vol.13(1), pp. 1-11

Musgrave, G (2020) Avicii: True Stories - Review, Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, Vol.12(1), pp. 94-97

Gross, S & Musgrave, G (2020) Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition, University of Westminster Press

Athanassiou, D & Musgrave, G (2021) Building a Heavy Metal World: Cultural Entrepreneurship in the Polish People's Republic, Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts, 10(1) (Forthcoming)

Chaparro, G & Musgrave, G (2021) Moral Music Management: Ethical Decision-Making After Avicii, International Journal of Music Business Research (Forthcoming)

Musgrave, G (2022) 'Losing Work, Losing Purpose': Representations of Musician's Mental Health in Time of Covid-19, in, Morrow, G, Tschmuck, P & Nordgard, D (eds) Rethinking the Music Business: Music Contexts, Rights, Data and COVID-19, Springer (Forthcoming)

For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.