We asked you all for your answers to the question “what's something you wish was talked about more in the classical music industry?”. Your thoughts have been published anonymously here. This article is part of our ‘honesty’ series, providing unfiltered insights into the opinions of people working in the classical music industry in the UK. To take part in our next one, follow us @alterclassical on Instagram and watch our stories!

- Debt
- Let’s normalise paying people not just enough to live but enough to show respect as well as reflect the true economic value being created.
- The burden of making audition videos for everything
- How difficult it is to find professional performance work as a musician
- How to get gig bookings without an agent
- The reality of a shrinking industry due to underfunding
- Getting teaching positions
- Pay!
- Finances
- The Arts Council postcode lottery
- Pay - especially for freelancers
- Negotiating contracts
- The stigma where not being in a big five orchestra somehow means you’re not a successful professional
- Fees
- How to get money outside funding
- How to get through the audition door and out the other side
- The class ceiling!
- Elitism and Classism of Higher Education
- Beauty standards
- Social class
- The racism and sexism of the “under 25/30/40” opportunities
- Class and the fact there’s too many posh people
- “Emerging” should not be synonymous with “young”
- Stop age limits on opportunities
- Stop postcoding worth
- The amount of money most classical musicians require to become pro
- Underrepresentation - mainly of women
- How a lot of work is in London but it’s completely unaffordable to live there (with kids)
- Nepotism - particularly in conducting
- How even now men in classical music are getting away with bullying and harassment
- Sexual harassment
- Nepotism and orchestras taking on students of orchestral players without auditioning
- Rampant sexual harassment
- How known perpetrators keep getting hired to work within training organisations
- Safeguarding concerns at private schools - especially from performers/teachers
- That artistic temperament is just an excuse people use to treat someone poorly
- How to be a good colleague
- Working as a parent with multiple kids
- How to navigate a career being a woman with kids
- Mental health - how it’s impacted by constant competition and criticism
- The physicality of players - especially on larger instruments
- Making mistakes in performances
- The change in the classical music repertoire
- More works by women composers and women of colour
- More discussions on the lived experiences of current women composers and the challenges faced whilst starting their composing careers
- Popularity doesn’t equate to talent
- Acting or dressing eccentric doesn’t make you a genius at music
- Violinists aren’t any more a genius than any other musician
- The impossible standards and immovable barriers cloaked as “tradition”
- Revolution
- Encourage young musicians through artist schemes and other collaborative opportunities rather than spending enormous amounts on competitions

Hannah Fiddy is the Founder of Alternative Classical and a freelance marketing consultant, developing audiences for classical music. Described as a "classical innovator" by Classical Whisper, Hannah has created and promoted numerous concerts outside of traditional spaces, including warehouses, pubs, clubs and museums; interviewed some of the world's most famous composers; and guest lectured on innovation in the classical music industry. Hannah has managed the digital marketing for many music organisations and artists including choral composer John Rutter and The King’s Singers. In a past life she founded London Flashmob, producing quirky events from wedding proposals to cultural pranks for up to 1,000 people.