A whopping 70% of DJs forced to retrain during the Covid-19 pandemic

Pirate Studios which has recently undergone a rebrand to just Pirate, is a network of accessible and affordable spaces for creatives from DJs to producers, podcasters to musicians and anything in between, with locations in the UK, Ireland, Germany and United States.

Pirate were forced to close their doors during the pandemic, during this time they put together a survey to ask their customers how they had been affected by coronavirus.

The survey revealed a massive 70% of DJs had decided to retrain or learn a new skill. Although the positive of this was 29% had shifted their focus towards music production. They used the pandemic in a positive way, with 67% stating “time to produce” as their top reason for turning the pandemic into a positive for DJs.

Just as worrying, when asked whether the pandemic had made them less likely to pursue a full-time career in music, 26% said yes and 20% weren’t sure – almost 50% considering pursuing another career.

54% of DJs recorded a loss in revenue due to Covid-19, yet only 21% had applied for government or organisational funding and/or support – 13.5% of which were successful in their applications. In one instance a DJ missed out on a projected £55,000 in DJ bookings.

To find out more about the survey findings, click here.