Mental health in the music industry
(Warning: Discussions of suicide and mental health)
Music has always helped listeners navigate heartbreak, loss, anxiety, and hope. The people creating those songs deserve the same opportunity to thrive. The curtain may close after every performance, but the conversation around mental health can’t.
Sold-out concerts, chart-topping singles, and the glamour of life on the road is what fans see. But behind the performances, many artists are quietly experiencing a very different reality plagued with burnout, anxiety, financial instability, isolation, and mounting creative pressure.
Now, a landmark piece of work has put numbers to what many musicians have known for years. The first Canadian study of its kind, ‘Soundcheck: Mental Health in the Canadian Music Industry,’ surveyed more than 1,200 Canadian music professionals through questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. The findings paint a challenging picture: 94% of respondents believe mental health issues are prevalent in the industry, while 53% said they have experienced moments where they felt life was not worth living.
For Nova Scotian singer, Jon Mullane, the results were not shocking. They simply confirmed what he’s been experiencing his whole career.
Success still isn’t a shield
On paper, Mullane’s career reflects the dream many aspiring musicians hope to achieve. From five released albums, he has earned Billboard Top 40 singles, landed placements during NBC’s Olympic Games coverage, and performed at iconic venues like the House of Blues in Hollywood. His latest extended play, (EP) ‘The Road’, has also gained critical acclaim, while ‘Remember in November’ won Best of Canada Music Video at the 2026 Music Video Awards. Yet his journey hasn’t always been smooth.
Mullane agrees that musical success does not make artists like him immune to mental health challenges. In fact, ‘Soundcheck’ suggests that many of the industry’s biggest stressors have little to do with creativity itself. Instead, they’re rooted in the way work/life/balance in music is structured. For instance, a staggering 83% of respondents said financial stress directly affects their mental health with 54% of musicians reporting that they are earning less than $50,000 annually, and only 5% strongly agreeing that they felt secure in their jobs.
These numbers also reflect an industry built on uncertainty. Streaming royalties remain fractions of a cent per play, live performances have become increasingly essential to making a living, and many artists continue funding tours, recordings, and promotional work out of their own pockets. It’s a career fueled by passion, not necessarily stability.
Mullane can offer a perspective few artists can. Alongside his music career, he holds a university degree in psychology and has spent years partnering with organizations including the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and The Campaign to Change Direction, advocating for greater mental health awareness. This combination of lived experience and academic understanding gives him a unique voice at a time when Canada’s music industry is discussing these uncomfortable truths.
Long before mental health became a prominent conversation in entertainment, Mullane was already writing about it. His 2016 song ‘Born Beautiful’ that discusses hope, resilience, and suicide prevention, earned him multiple music video awards and facilitated his ongoing mental health organization partnerships.
Root of the problem
The report’s most significant conclusion is that mental health challenges aren’t simply individual struggles, they’re systemic ones. Researchers state that work environments, rather than personal resilience, are driving much of the crisis. In other words, the issue isn’t that musicians aren’t resilient enough. It’s that they’re working within systems that make resilience increasingly difficult to sustain. Based on the data collected: • 95% believe the music industry could do more to address mental health • 83% say their work environment does not support mental well-being • Only 10% believe industry leaders actively implement mental health measures • 72% say stigma still surrounds seeking mental health support • 96% believe mental health education is critical, yet 81% have received no training.
The report also found that 84% of respondents struggle with the industry’s “all-on, all-off” work culture. Periods of nonstop activity followed by stretches of silence and uncertainty.
Getting help
Even when artists recognize they need support, many don’t know where to turn. Only 43% of respondents said they were satisfied with available mental health support, while 80% were unaware of resources specific to musicians. At the same time, there is a clear demand for change: 85% want better tools to manage their own mental health, and 93% want to learn how to support peers (Dial 988 for Suicide Crisis Helpline).
Moving forward
Rather than simply documenting the problem, the Soundcheck report also outlines a roadmap for change. Its recommendations include: • Industry-wide mental health education • Psychologically safe workplace standards • Leadership training • Easier access to industry-specific counselling and peer support • Structural reforms that improve income stability and job security.
For artists like Jon Mullane, those recommendations represent something more than just policy. They represent the possibility of changes in an industry where musicians don’t have to sacrifice their well-being in pursuit of their careers.
Canada’s music industry has finally measured the scale of the problem. The next challenge is ensuring the findings become more than statistics, and instead are the foundation for meaningful change.
Arzo Baig is an Editorial Assistant at the Canadian Abilities Foundation.
Photo: Eric Alper PR
