Common features of classical music markets are highly standardized repertoires, predominantly produced and performed in countries of the global North (mostly US and Western Europe), ageing audience structures, and consistent dependence on private or public funding beyond the box office (Keaney and Oskala, 2007, Kolb, 2001). Classical music is still considered to be addressing a middle-class, exclusionary ‘highbrow audience’ and reproducing male white elitism (Kolbe, 2021, Ramstedt, 2023). However, studies of Western classical music labor markets persistently point out that “financial rewards for professional artistic practice are typically lower than in other occupations requiring similar levels of human capital (as indicated by education, training and experience)“ (Throsby and Zednik, 2011; see also Menger, 2006). Superstars (Rosen, 1981) and a small number of stable and/or full-time jobs encounter an excess supply of highly educated and multi-skilled workers (often with rather precarious employment) who regularly pursue so-called portfolio careers (Bennett, 2016). These workers may need to hold multiple jobs, to compensate for otherwise inadequate income, more frequently than workers in most other occupations (USA: Alper and Wassall, 2000). They also have a higher propensity to in-work poverty (Europe: Conen, 2020). College or university teachers (a frequent primary or secondary occupation for musicians) equally desire or need second or third jobs (Alper and Wassall, 2000). High multiple jobholding rates, i.e. the proportion of total employment made up of multiple jobholders, usually indicate problems with the quality of primary employment (Hipple, 2010).

Multiple jobholding can be defined as simply “holding more than one job“ (Hipple, 2010) and is also referred to as pluriactivity, side-hustling or hybrid employment. Most definitions, such as those used by the Current Population Study in the US, exclude individuals who are self-employed in their primary occupation. This is not the case for Moonlighting, which refers to individuals who “perform any paid or unpaid additional secondary work outside one’s regular/main occupational/professional activity“ (Fröhlich et al., 2013). Portfolio work describes packages of paid, unpaid and voluntary work and non-vocational activities, a “collection of different bits and pieces of work for different clients“ (Handy, 1994). For musicians, various professional jobs are often combined with non-artistic work (Throsby and Zednik, 2011). Although the concept has been frequently promoted to describe the independence associated with boundaryless or protean careers, portfolio work is often an indicator of precarious and atypical employment structures: such factors may force workers into self-employment due to a lack of alternatives in their chosen field and job insecurity (Smeaton, 2003).

Whereas many of the characteristics of classical music markets mentioned earlier are similar internationally, the working conditions in and around classical orchestras and ensembles are also strongly shaped by national or even local cultural policies and structures. In this paper, we use the case of the Viennese classical orchestra scene to investigate how local and national cultural policies and networks shape employment opportunities in the field of classical music and reinforce structural inequalities. Vienna is built on the specific heritage of the Habsburg monarchy, such as the Viennese Classical style, and a European tradition of public funding of arts and culture, including artists’ social security. The city brands itself as “the capital of music” and offers a rich supply of classical music in the form of numerous professional (e.g., Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphonic Orchestra) and freelance orchestras and ensembles, a wide range of opera and concert houses and festivals. Vienna has a strong music education network with two music universities and many music schools and conservatories. The relative richness of paid orchestra positions is, however, undermined by precarious working conditions and salaries below honorary recommendations. Consequently, musicians need multiple jobs to provide social security and to cushion financial risk to pursue primary artistic activities (IGFM, 2022). These market conditions create and maintain asymmetries of power and privilege, which reproduce inequalities and facilitate an environment of assault and sexual harassment (Reitsamer and Abfalter, 2022). Although, in recent years, interest groups have gained momentum, union organization for musicians remains very weak, unlike, for example, in the United Kingdom (Williamson and Cloonan, 2016).

In our paper, we methodologically argue our case within an interdisciplinary Cultural Institutions Studies framework (Zembylas, 2004, Hasitschka et al., 2005). We examine a wide array of material (including interviews with experts and musicians) to develop an in-depth case study of the classical orchestra scene in Vienna/Austria along historical, structural and practice dimensions. The specific focus of the case study will be on multiple jobholding, moonlighting, and portfolio work of classically trained musicians. We show how their livelihood, based on different sources of income within the same sector, can vary from one of mere survival to winner-takes-all power positions. The historical dimension examines the evolution from court orchestras to highly subsidized “privatized” organizations in the wake of the Austrian privatization wave in the early 2000s (Tschmuck, 2006): these organizations are still closely tied to cultural politics. Current structures in the labor market for musicians, such as legal and financial frameworks, job opportunities in orchestras, festivals, etc., is the focus of the structural dimension, showing how multiple jobs and portfolio careers have become either a necessity for survival or an instrument of power in established networks, and how these opportunities are still marked by gender, class, and race. Finally, the practical dimension sheds light on current practices of music education, career building, recruitment, and multiple employment in the social field.

Our findings enable us to discuss how structural inequalities, such as the filling of full-time positions and well-paid multiple jobs, by predominantly white CIS musicians, are reinforced. These findings contribute to our still limited understanding of (different versions) of multiple jobholding (Campion et al., 2020) and on musicians’ working conditions (Cloonan and Williamson, 2023). The paper concludes with insights for the classical music scene with a special focus on multiple employment opportunities beyond the specific case of Vienna/Austria and recommendations for cultural policy and governance to achieve the UN’s 2030 sustainability goal of “decent work” for musicians.


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The article unpacks the roles of creative intermediaries and the importance of their activities. The nature of creative intermediaries' activities is related to the interaction between the cultural and business environment, within which interdisciplinary links and collaborations are forged (Virani, 2019). Creative intermediaries are identified as those who support the activities of creative individuals (Jansson, Hracs, 2018) and build collaborations between policymakers and creative individuals, organizations, businesses, ensuring successful interactions between both parties (Munro, 2017). Creative intermediaries are expected to not only be able to initiate new ideas but also to implement them. As the roles of creative intermediaries are diverse and valuable in different fields of activity, it is important to identify them.

Scholars emphasize the important roles of the creative intermediaries, but without a precise description of each role (Stachowiak, 2019, De Propris, 2019, Carroll, 2006, Park, Tantiyaswasdikul, Evans, Lertwattanaruk, 2019, Zwass, 2010, Haugsevje, Stavrum, Heian, Leikvoll, 2021, Bourdieu, 1984). The novelty of this article is in that it identifies 8 dominant roles of creative intermediatries. These roles are complementary and point to significant motivational aspects that help to self-identify and reveal more deeply the direction of creative intermediaries.
The research has led to the development of a self-assessment tool for creative intermediaries, based on management approaches and validated in both local and international audiences. The tool was tested by 30 master students at the International Summer School “Cultural Entrepreneurship & Leadership: reconstructing, relearning, reflecting” organized by the Latvian Academy of Culture and Erasmus University Rotterdam in August 2023 and 20 managers of Latvian cultural centers in September 2023.
As a result, the Creative Intermediary Self-Assessment Tool has been developed and refined, enabling each creative intermediary to make an in-depth identification of their motivations on an individual basis, as well as enabling decision-makers in the organization to be aware of the human resource opportunities in contributing to the development of the creative industries.
Scholars emphasize the important roles of the creative intermediaries, but without the precise description of each role (Stachowiak, 2019, De Propris, 2019, Carroll, 2006, Park, Tantiyaswasdikul, Evans, Lertwattanaruk, 2019, Zwass, 2010, Haugsevje, Stavrum, Heian, Leikvoll, 2021, Bourdieu, 1984). The novelty of this article is identified 8 dominant roles. These roles are complementary and point to significant motivational aspects that help to self-identify and reveal more deeply the direction of creative intermediaries.

The research led to the development of a self-assessment tool for creative intermediaries, based on management approaches and validated in both local and international audiences. The tool was tested by 30 master students at the International Summer School “Cultural Entrepreneurship & Leadership: reconstructing, relearning, reflecting” organized by the Latvian Academy of Culture and Erasmus University Rotterdam in August 2023 and 20 managers of Latvian cultural centers in September 2023.

As a result, the Creative Intermediary Self-Assessment Tool has been developed and refined, enabling each creative intermediary to make an in-depth identification of their motivations on an individual basis, as well as enabling decision-makers in the organization to be aware of the human resource opportunities in contributing to the development of the creative industries.