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For decades, the live music business has relied on a workforce built on gig labor — workers subject to long stretches away from home without the support found in traditional industries. That’s exactly the gap ECCHO Live — formerly known as Touring Career Workshop — is trying to close. And one of the people helping shape that shift is Chuck Hull, the retired tour manager whose 50-year career spans performers from Elvis Presley to Keith Urban.
Hull, who joined the organization’s expanded advisory board after retiring in 2023, says ECCHO Live is addressing a fundamental truth about the touring economy: “We’re essentially an industry with no real HR department, no safety net, and no guaranteed path for sustainability.”
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Last month, ECCHO Live held its largest workshop to date, attracting nearly 500 live event professionals to the Soundcheck Annex in Nashville, including keynote speaker Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association. Hull says the large attendance and interest are indicative of an industry in need of support.
ECCHO Live began more than a decade ago as a modest career workshop led by lighting designer and production manager Chris Lyle, who wanted to help newcomers navigate the opaque, freelance-heavy touring world. The early focus was basic but essential, providing guidance in finding work, building a résumé, and handling the financial and personal challenges of life on the road.
One of ECCHO Live’s most influential initiatives is All Access, a first-of-its-kind mental-health program for touring professionals. The program provides four free counseling sessions to anyone working in live entertainment — an initiative that was recently expanded to include spouses. The expansion, Hull says, was an overdue acknowledgment of how touring affects entire families.
“When you’re gone for weeks or months, that stress isn’t just yours — it hits your partner, your kids, your home life,” he explains. “Extending support to spouses was a no-brainer.”
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During the pandemic, ECCHO Live saw a surge in demand for mental-wellness support, and those requests didn’t disappear once touring returned. To meet the growing need, the organization launched All Access On-Site, a roaming mental-health tent that appears backstage at major festivals. Crew members can discreetly sign up for same-day sessions with licensed counselors — a resource that was booked solid at many events.
“Festivals started calling us asking if they could get the activation,” Hull says. “That tells you everything about how needed this is.”
ECCHO Live also provides programming that addresses other weak points in touring employment and helps with financial guidance, including retirement planning for workers who rarely have access to 401(k)s. There are also career development workshops for entry-level and mid-career workers and department-specific training for roles in production, audio, lighting, video and crew management.
Hull describes these programs as “the kinds of resources every corporate employee takes for granted — but that simply don’t exist in live entertainment unless we create them ourselves.”
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ECCHO Live’s mission is supported by funding from a broad coalition of industry organizations, including the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music Awards, record labels, promoters, vendors and other stakeholders who rely on the touring labor pipeline.
Hull’s involvement with ECCHO Live comes after one of the longest continuous careers in modern touring. But while his résumé includes Elvis, Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney and a 20-year run managing Keith Urban, he says ECCHO Live isn’t about legacy — it’s about ensuring that the next generation of touring personnel have the resources he never had.
“I spent 50 years without a 401(k), without a health plan, without a safety net,” Hull says. “You survived by hustling. That shouldn’t be the only model we offer the people who keep this business running.”
From his advisory role, he sees ECCHO Live as a responsibility — and an overdue shift in an industry that historically expected workers to tough it out. “The old-school roadie mentality was ‘Bury it, don’t talk about it,’” he says. “But times have changed. People are finally willing to say when they need help. ECCHO Live is creating the space for that.”
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With a growing slate of sponsorships and a board that spans touring, vendor ops, production, festivals and corporate live events, ECCHO Live is positioning itself as the first true support network for the touring workforce.
“We’re building structure where there was none,” Hull said. “We’re supporting the people the entire live-entertainment economy is built on. And we’re finally acknowledging that taking care of crews isn’t a luxury — it’s essential.”
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Noah Cyrus sat down for the first Tuned In With Billboard, presented by BetterHelp, to talk about addiction, therapy and her excitement for the future. After releasing her critically acclaimed second album, I Want My Loved Ones to Go With Me, Cyrus embarked on a North American tour, during which she shared her music with fans and show her appreciation for their support.
In our interview, Noah reflects on the pains of comparisons, the struggles of addiction and the benefits of therapy, which she says saved her life. Today, she is happier than she’s ever been. Though she still gets triggered from time to time, the resources of therapy have given her the tools to handle situations that would have been difficult in the past.
Now, Cyrus looks forward to the future. She’s excited to start a family with her fiancé and be a mom, none of which she said would have been possible without therapy. Her latest album, tour and happiness is all thanks to therapy and recovery treatments.
If you or someone you know if struggling, BetterHelp can help you take that first step. Learn more at bettehelp.com/tunedin.
Noah Cyrus: When I look back on it, I think about how I didn’t know at the time that I would be at a place where I am standing here now in an interview like this, and I don’t talk about this ever, so I’m totally losing it right now. Sorry, like I feel so lucky for being able to have the resources of therapy.
Though it’s like a heavier album, it has felt a lot more hopeful in the room and a lot more lighter. This album’s more about transitioning and moving forward and it being more of a really comforting release, rather than something painful that you’re walking away from. It wasn’t until experiencing like those two, three years after dropping the single and figuring out life being more seen and more open to the public’s opinions. And so I think a lot of the things that felt hard on me was whenever I was more of a victim to those people.
Whenever I was 20, turning 21 — just about 21 — I was really deep in addiction to downers. I had recently lost my grandmother at the time, and it just felt like I had, you know, pushed myself so far away from my family and my mom, who I’m so close with, and I had really just gotten myself in such a dark place, and I felt so alone that helped to me, looked like first reaching out to my therapist and being really honest about the struggles that I was facing. So I had a lot to tackle and a lot to uncover, and one that started with the addiction, but there were so many layers underneath the addiction.
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Spotify has partnered with industry mental health nonprofit Backline to launch a global hub of mental health resources as part of their nascent Heart & Soul initiative.
Officially dubbed ‘Heart & Soul, Mental Health for Creators,’ the new partnership sees Backline and Spotify joining forces to launch their Global Mental Health Resource Hub, which aims to serve as a comprehensive support platform for industry professionals around the world.
While Spotify first launched its Heart & Soul initiative in 2018 as a way of providing support and deepening understanding of emotional well-being amongst its employees, Backline first emerged in 2019 to connect industry professionals and their family with mental health and wellness resources.
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The new partnership sees Backline now expanding their services beyond U.S. borders for the first time, serving as a response to the growing mental health crisis that affects industry workers – be it artists, touring crew and industry professionals – of all levels and locations.
“Backline is honored to serve as a steward of Spotify’s investment into the creative community,” Hilary Gleason, Backline’s Executive Director & Co-Founder, said in a statement. “Bringing our work to scale is a meaningful way to uplift the well-being of artists all around the world.
“This collaboration is taking these invaluable mental health and wellness resources beyond borders. Music knows no bounds, and now people who make music happen have access to care and a compassionate community. Our work together will help ensure that artists have the resources, support, and stability they need to thrive both personally and professionally.”
The new initiative will see Backline’s expanding their resources worldwide, including an international, multilingual database of trusted music industry and mental health support resources and crisis lines from around the world; an email concierge service that provides one-on-one support to aid individuals in navigating care options and mental health systems in their countries; and access to their free digital guide Mind the Music: A Mental Health Guide for the Music Industry.
Additionally, support for songwriters, and access to wellness events are included, as is free therapy access for ambassadors of Spotify’s EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs.
“It’s clear that the mental health challenges artists face are real, and that the current support systems often fall short. It’s on all of us in the industry to respond with action,” noted Monica Herrera Damashek, Spotify’s Head of Artist & Label Partnerships.
“We know this is only one step but we look forward to building on this for a more supported, sustainable environment for the artists who shape culture every day.”
Additionally, Spotify is also providing financial support to expand organizations such as MusiCares, Music Health Alliance, Music Minds Matter, and Noah Kahan’s The Busyhead Project; spotlighting mental health stories from the creative community across Spotify for Artists and Spotify Songwriting; and offering curated playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks to support creators’ wellbeing via the Heart & Soul, Mental Health for Creators hub.
“Heart & Soul is our commitment to the creators behind the music. Artists and songwriters face immense pressure, and their mental health can’t be an afterthought,” added Spotify’s Head of Social Impact Lauren Siegal Wurgaft.
“Supporting creators’ well-being is essential to sustaining a vibrant music ecosystem. By working closely with trusted partners like Backline, we’re not just offering resources, we’re helping drive lasting change in how the industry approaches mental health.”
MusiCares announced that it launched its 2025 Wellness in Music Survey on Monday (June 2). The study, which MusiCares first introduced in October 2020, includes questions on such sensitive topics as sexual harassment, sexual assault, suicide, mental health and substance use. The anonymous survey is limited to music professionals who are 18 and older. Responses are due by Friday (June 13) at 5 p.m. PT.
MusiCares seeks to get participants to answer dozens of detailed questions about their health and well-being by saying, “The survey allows MusiCares to understand how music professionals are doing on a large scale, and to then tailor our services to the community’s most pressing needs. Your participation isn’t just valuable — it’s vital for making real, positive changes for everyone in the music community.”
Key updates this year include additional questions around family/caregiving and the experiences of music professionals with disabilities.
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MusiCares reports that nearly 2,800 music professionals responded to last year’s survey. Based in part on their responses, MusiCares expanded telehealth support for addiction recovery, introduced financial coaching, covered childcare costs and increased access to preventive care services, including mammograms and cervical screenings.
In its letter asking people to participate in the survey, MusiCares ticks off several ways in which music careers can be especially challenging in terms of health and well-being: “Unpredictable, gig-based income. High out-of-pocket healthcare costs. Long hours on the road, often in a new city each day. These challenges don’t just affect performers — they affect touring crews, engineers, stagehands, and every behind-the-scenes worker who keeps the music going.
“The truth is: life in music isn’t just challenging — it’s often destabilizing in ways that most traditional workers never encounter. From a lack of benefits and paid leave to the mental toll of creative burnout, the risks are real — and they’re widespread.
Go here to access the survey in English. Go here to access the survey in Spanish. Go here to access the social media toolkit in both English and Spanish.
Last year’s survey results were sobering — and that was before wildfires in Los Angeles and hurricanes across the Southeast disrupted thousands of lives, including many who work in music.
Here are some of the key findings from last year’s survey:
78% earned $100,000 or less — lower than national household averages.
69% couldn’t comfortably cover expenses through music work alone.
53% said their income hadn’t stabilized post-pandemic.
47% and 44% cited financial concerns as a direct cause of stress and anxiety, respectively.
65% were not confident about the trajectory of the music industry.
87% had health insurance, but only 54% had dental.
78% skipped hearing screenings, despite working in high-decibel environments.
70% of those 45+ missed colonoscopy screenings.
62% of women 24+ missed cervical cancer screenings.
60% of those under 45 skipped vision screenings.
8.3% had serious thoughts of suicide, compared to 5% nationally. Of those, 15.1% made a plan and 3.5% attempted — far above national rates.
36% reported using marijuana or marijuana-derived products in the past month. Among those users, 36% reported daily use.
Offering preventive, emergency and recovery programs, MusiCares is a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community. Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989 as a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) charity, MusiCares safeguards the well-being of music workers through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources and tailored crisis relief efforts. For more information visit www.musicares.org.
When Chappell Roan accepted her trophy for best new artist at the 2025 Grammy Awards in February, she asked a question that quickly went viral. The pop star used her speech to advocate for livable wages and health care for recording artists, concluding with the line, “Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
Tatum Allsep, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Music Health Alliance, posted the speech to her Instagram account that night. “THIS!!!! Music Health Alliance has got you, your band, crew, team, songwriters, engineers, etc. #HealTheMusic,” read her caption.
“At first, I was jumping up and down and elated,” Allsep recalls, “and then, after I started reading the articles coming out, I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Chappell lost a record deal in 2020. We were here.’ We could have helped her in two seconds, but she didn’t know. And that’s on us.”
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By Feb. 13, Music Health Alliance and Universal Music Group partnered to launch the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, with the goal of providing mental health services to music industry professionals. The two organizations first started working together during the pandemic, creating a concierge program for UMG artists, songwriters and employees. Yet the Mental Health Fund is the latest step in Allsep’s decadeslong career as an advocate for health care in the industry, and on June 4, she will be honored with the Impact Award at Billboard’s Country Power Players event in Nashville.
“[Awareness] has got to come from the industry internally,” she says. “Just letting people know that we’re a safe space and we exist. All the funds we raise go right back into our programs and services. We want it to be that way, but we also want those that need us to know we’re here.”
How were the Music Health Alliance and UMG able to move so quickly following Chappell Roan’s speech?
We were already working with [UMG], and six months before the Grammys, we had started to talk about doing something in the mental health space. Chappell’s speech [made us say], “OK, now’s the time. This is what we need to do.” It was a great opportunity for the industry, for the label and for us to do something really meaningful at a time when people were listening.
You founded the Music Health Alliance in 2013. Why is it still necessary for an artist like Roan to give the speech she did 12 years later?
It’s not black and white. It’s a complicated issue. You get health insurance by being an employer of an organization — and you can negotiate anything, I understand that. But talking about Chappell specifically, if she was going to be an employee of UMG, they would own her creativity. And that’s suffocating for artists. We’ve got to prioritize their health, and that needs to be equally as important as making sure their vocal cords work when they’re going out.
What kind of uptick in artists reaching out to you did you experience following the formation of the Mental Health Fund?
For February, March and April, it was a 250% increase over last year. And that’s specifically for mental health.
The first Music Health Alliance fundraising event was hosted with Jack Clement for his “living wake” in 2013. What are more recent examples of working alongside an artist to create change?
Dierks Bentley is a great example. We went to college together and started in the music industry the same week. He was in the tape room at [The Nashville Network] and I was the receptionist at MCA Records in the promotion department, and we thought we had arrived. I think we were each making like $12,000 a year. And so, when I started Music Health Alliance, he was one of the first people that was like, “I support this.” About two years in, his team called and they were like, “Dierks wants to provide group health insurance for his band.” And I’m like, “I don’t know anything about group health insurance.” That was over Christmas break of 2016. By Jan. 1, we had a game plan, and by Feb. 1, his band and team were fully insured.
What are the goals for the Mental Health Fund in 2025 and beyond?
Where there’s a gap and a really serious need is for outpatient counseling. Vetting counselors is huge. You can’t just watch a 30-minute video and be music industry-informed. You have to understand the creative brain, and that is not the same. Once [an artist or executive] knows that they can trust us, we can help them for as long as they need.
This article originally appeared in the May 31, 2025 issue of Billboard.
As Dierks Bentley gears up to release his upcoming 11th studio album, Broken Branches (out June 13), and his 30-city Broken Branches Tour launching this week, he is also giving back to the creative and touring communities — including songwriters, musicians and touring crews — that keep artists and their music in front of fans.
Bentley has established the Broken Branches Fund, with a multiyear financial commitment to offer mental health resources to the creative and touring communities. The fund will be administered in partnership with Music Health Alliance and will give mental health grants to qualified candidates and their families. The funds will cover outpatient counseling and plans for follow-up care. Music fans can also donate to the fund throughout Bentley’s summer tour stops and through MHA’s online donation site.
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“Making this album and prepping for the tour, I’ve never been more aware of the sacrifice that the people in this town make every day to keep country music playing,” Bentley said in a statement. “Whether you’re sitting in a room all day trying to write the perfect hook or leaving home on a bus for weeks at a time, it can be isolating and exhausting. This just felt like the right opportunity to make a bigger commitment on my part to supporting those folks and their families in a more direct and intentional way.” “Dierks was one of the first artists to believe in and support Music Health Alliance, and from day one, he’s led with both heart and action,” Tatum Allsep, founder and CEO of Music Health Alliance, said in a statement. “Creating the Broken Branches Fund at MHA to support music’s mental health shows his deep commitment to the people who power our industry both on stage and off, and to their well-being for many years to come.”
Music Health Alliance launched in 2013 and offers advocacy and access to healthcare and mental health resources for music professionals and their families, with MHA’s services bing free to those who have earned a living in the music industry for more than three years. According to the MHA, more than 32,000 music community members across the United States have been aided through mental health resources, lifesaving transplants, health insurance and emergent dental care, saving more than $145 million in healthcare costs.
The new Bentley-launched fund continues the partnership work Music Health Alliance has been engaged in through various areas of the industry. Earlier this year, Music Health Alliance expanded its partnership with Universal Music Group to launch the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, to offer “comprehensive, high-quality outpatient mental health resources for music industry professionals across the United States.”
Bentley’s Broken Branches album will continue his dedication to collaborating with and spotlighting many of Nashville’s top tunesmiths, musicians and artists. He teams with Stephen Wilson Jr. on the song “Cold Beer Can,” while Riley Green and Country Music Hall of Famer John Anderson join him on the album’s title track, and Miranda Lambert appears on “Never You.” Luke Dick, Kyle Sturrock, Jeremy Bussey, Jordan Reynolds, Jim Beavers, Connie Harrington and Lauren McLamb are a few of the writers whose work is highlighted on the album.
Sheryl Crow unfurled her new single “I Know” on Friday (May 23) in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month. On the tender ballad, the nine-time Grammy winner lays out the importance of empathy and connection as she sings, “But maybe I could hold your hand/ And count the teardrops as they flow/ And promise never […]
The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund launched a fundraiser on Thursday (May 15) to benefit the Music’s Mental Health Fund featuring signed memorabilia and experiences from Coldplay, R.E.M., Teddy Swims, The Mars Volta, Nickelback and more. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Mental Health Fund, a partnership between […]
PinkPantheress is ready to step back into the spotlight after taking a few months to herself. You might recall that last August the 24-year-old British singer born Victoria Walker canceled all of her remaining 2024 tour dates — including festival shows and slots opening for Olivia Rodrigo and Coldplay — to focus on her physical health after saying she’d “hit a wall.”
Now, in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, the singer says that despite the pushback from her team on hitting pause when things were really starting to hit for her she knew it was the right thing to do.
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“100%. But not even just because things are rolling, but more because of financial reasons why,” she told Lowe. “If you agree to do shows and you don’t follow through, there’s a lot of money being missed out on. There’s also a lot of… the opportunity for backlash to be. Really the least of my concerns, was the money.”
Pantheress said she’s naturally someone who is prone to not looking after herself in an effort to “push through” difficult times, which has caused problems in the past. “And that’s honestly one of the reasons I lost my hearing this ear because of that,” said the singer who in 2022 called off a performance at Spain’s Primavera Festival due to “partial hearing loss” that left her 80% deaf in her right ear. “So after that happened, I don’t know what it was. I think it was when I started cutting my hair with razor blades where I realized, you know what? I’m actually going to stop now.”
The singer who moved to Los Angeles two years ago and now spends her time bouncing between L.A. and London debuted a chopped bob earlier in January and told Lowe that when she cut her hair off she had an epiphany. “I was like, ‘you know what? I’m going to probably take a step back and chill,’” she said. “And I’m not someone that generally… I don’t really suffer with any kind of lapse in judgments when it comes to myself usually, but that’s when I knew… I had an impulse to literally get follicles of hair off of me. So I needed to… I was full up.”
That’s whey she made a decision to step out of the spotlight, something she has no regrets about. “There was something that I needed to address and so I had to leave,” she said. “And I did that for my own good. And obviously it was a very sad moment for people that wanted to see me but couldn’t see me. But obviously, what goes around comes around, and I’ll be back again.”
At the time she hopped off the tours, PinkPantheress told fans, “It is with the heaviest heart that sadly have to announce that i will not be able to continue with the rest of my live shows this year in order to focus on my physical health and overall wellbeing. It appears i have reached a wall which i am struggling to penetrate through. this will include my GUTS tour, Field Day, Summer Sonic, FORM, III Points, and Australia/NZ appearances.”
In January, she was featured on Shygirl’s “True Religion” single, which she followed up in April with her own songs, “Tonight” and “Stateside,” which will appear on her upcoming nine-song sophomore mixtape Fancy That, due out Friday (May 9).
Watch PinkPantheress describe her break to Lowe below.
Lizzo is gearing up to release her next album Love in Real Life, and she’s reflecting on the mental health break and journey she had leading up to the album.
The star joined the On Purpose With Jay Shetty podcast, where she discussed taking a “gap year” in releasing music. “I don’t feel like I’ve expressed myself fully in the last two years, like how I want to. I feel like I’ve been kind of holding my tongue and like staying to myself, but I think that it’s for the best because you know, running your mouth these days,” she said. “Sometimes it’s just unnecessary and sometimes it can get you into some stuff you wasn’t even trying to get into because people will misinterpret it and run with it. I found when I was like, I’m taking a gap year, I’m protecting my peace. But like, people were like, wait, so what’s that supposed to mean?”
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Lizzo has already released two songs from her upcoming album, “Still Bad” and the title track. Aside from “Pink” for Greta Gerwig’s 2023 Barbie soundtrack, the first singles from the project mark the Yitty founder’s first proper releases since 2022’s Special, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned two-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single “About Damn Time.”
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It also marks her first album since the harassment lawsuit brought by three of her former dancers in August 2023.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles by dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, accuses Lizzo (real name Melissa Jefferson) and her Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc. of a wide range of legal wrongdoing and included dozens of pages of detailed allegations. Lizzo denied the claims in a response shared to Twitter, calling them “false allegations” and “sensationalized stories.”
Lizzo told Shetty of public perception, “I think when it was out of my control and someone else could tell a story about me that wasn’t true and people believed it, it crushed me,” before adding, “I think what I learned about fame is, even if that’s really me, it just becomes kind of like a, a fictional story that you, it’s a character, it’s a brand, it’s a thing that now doesn’t belong to you anymore.”
She continued, “Whoever Lizzo is to the world is not really even me. And that disconnect is depressing. And I think the only remedy to that is continuing to be myself. That’s the time. I just have to continue to be me and people will see me for who I am.”
Ultimately, Lizzo concluded, “I’m never gonna stop… If anything, I’m more careful now. I can’t just let any author into my life who can make me a villain. I can’t do that anymore. ’cause I’m the author and I. Taking back my narrative by continuing to tell my story from me, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to do that.”
Watch the full episode below.
