‘The arts, darling’: Harry Styles and working-class involvement in the arts
Photo from wikimedia commons
Reflecting on Harry Styles’ Grammy speech, Bella Cross argues that we need to fund working-class participation in the arts.
“This doesn’t happen to people like me very often”: Harry Styles, collecting his Grammy for Album of the Year, me, leaving the library after a minor inconvenience and treating myself to a cookie. Both of these things have limited truth, and sometimes a false reality is just what you need to get through the day. For Styles though, many were rightly angered by his comments. As a white man, it seems ludicrous that he would claim an institution like the Grammys historically hasn’t recognised ‘people like’ him. Considering that only three black women in the whole of the award’s history have won in this category, the upset is understandable. In this sense, Styles very much represents the status-quo. Others have sought to defend him, however, highlighting how severely underrepresented working-class participation in the arts is. Frankly, I don’t want to waste time debating whether Styles qualifies as ‘working-class enough’ to make this statement or not. Whilst it would be great to see more working-class representation celebrated at the top of the industry, ultimately this pales into insignificance when one considers how throughout the rest of the industry working-class people are being entirely squeezed out. Especially in the UK, the arts are increasingly becoming inaccessible to working-class people.
All of my spare earnings from my first job at 14 that paid a whopping £4.50 per hour were spent on attending gigs. Whilst I was seeing what can only be characterised as, at best, mediocre indie bands, the prices for similar events have since risen considerably. Thankfully, whilst my wages have improved, as I would say, has my music taste (yes I can objectively claim there is better music than Ratboy), attending live music events now costs an arm and a leg. Tickets to an arena tour 10 years ago would have cost £30, and now can cost anywhere from £100-£200. If we knew this increase was corresponding to fairer working conditions and better pay for all those involved in the production, then this would be slightly less painful. But this rise can’t be attributed to this, and it just means that anyone who lacks considerable disposable income is priced out of attending events.
Increasingly, with more small venues shutting year on year (an estimated 1 a month), there is little choice but to attend these expensive and major events. I still remember when it was announced that my favourite local venue, the Hippodrome, was to be demolished to build unaffordable apartments. That venue had many fond memories for me, and I joined in petitioning everyone I knew to try and keep that venue open. Despite the 5,000 collected signatures, like many of our other cultural centres the venue was destroyed. Ralph drew attention to how this is harming community in Britain, but it also means that the places where local bands practice and learn are becoming more restricted. The points of access into the music industry, for working-class people, are being destroyed. These spaces have never been beacons of inclusivity, the music industry is rampant with misogyny and racism. No one wins with the closure of these spaces.
It is estimated that working-class participation in music as writers, musicians and artists has fallen by half since 1970, a truly astonishing figure. This can be directly attributed to the skyrocketing rent prices in cities in recent years. Prices in London have risen by 16.1% in one year, in Manchester by 20.5% and in Birmingham by 17.6%. The criminalisation of squatting leaves surviving on a relatively unstable means of income as a completely unattainable means of living for anyone without access to money or property to fall back on. This isn’t just limited to music; it’s well documented that places like the Edinburgh Fringe are dominated by white middle-class people who can afford to potentially lose thousands of pounds.
This problem can be traced back to the lack of exposure to arts in schools. With the Tories in 2021 planning to cut funding to the arts in schools by 50%, and Sunak now proposing to make maths compulsory to age 18, children are being stripped of the opportunity to enjoy and participate in the arts from a young age. This is especially true for those with less disposable income, as working-class children have less opportunities to attend museums, galleries, concerts and performances that cost money outside of schooling as well. These cycles of exclusion are therefore perpetuated. It’s not as if the Tories or wealthy people don’t recognise the value of exposure to arts and life beyond traditional academia; they absolutely do know how important it is to both children’s development, and to the accumulation of cultural capital. There’s a significant disparity in opportunities between state and private schools, with 82% of teachers at private schools believing children should visit galleries and spend time with artists, in contrast to just 36-68% for state school. It’s a deliberate choice to ensure these areas are inaccessible to working-class people.
I don’t expect to see Styles waving the tricolour or to pave the way for working-class participation in arts and culture. But there is a great need to address these disparities, and this starts with funding opportunities for children to explore and engage in creative arts. We have to protect creative spaces which are being lost to gentrification and continue to celebrate art that reflects a diversity of experiences.