Music on my Mind

That's a wrap for Music on my Mind 2020 - our campaign to raise funds and awareness for mental health in the music community.

Over the past 3 years of Music on my Mind, we have raised a total of $40,000AUD for mental health charities through our music fundraisers and reached thousands with our online content to raise awareness of mental health in music.

MUSIC ON MY MIND 2020

Mental health is a bigger issue now than ever since Covid-19. The music industry was already a high risk place for mental illness and has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. So with the ongoing support of City of Sydney, we raised funds and awareness for mental health in the public and music community through Music on my Mind again this year.

Carl Cox on Anxiety

Check out our animation of legendary DJ Carl Cox talking to psychiatrist Doc Kamran about his experiences of anxiety as a young DJ, how he deals with it now and tips for others on coping:

Music on my Mind: Carl Cox interview

Watch our exclusive video interview with Carl Cox on all things mental health, including coping with 2020, losing loved ones, dealing with online hate and more:

Catch the rest of our music-related mental health content on our social media channels: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Music on My Mind: Stream for Mental Health

We teamed up with some of Sydney's best house & techno crews for a quality livestream fundraiser from Club 77 on World Mental Health Day, Oct 10th. We raised $2500AUD for Support Act who help artists and music workers facing mental health problems. Watch one of the sets here:

MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health is a bigger issue now than it ever was. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact, causing anxiety, stress during lockdown and affecting people financially.

Pre-covid mental health was already a massive national crisis with 45 percent of Australians experiencing a mental health condition in their lifetime, and approximately 1 million Australian adults with depression and over 2 million with anxiety in any given year.

Rates were even higher in entertainment industry workers, who have 10 times the rate of anxiety, 5 times the rate of depression and double the rate of suicide attempts. Erratic sleep patterns, performance anxiety, hectic touring schedules, easy access to alcohol and drugs, uncertain income and lack of recognition (or for the very successful, the intense scrutiny that comes with fame) - can all take a toll on the mental health of music industry professionals.

The music industry has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic - venues shut down, events and tours cancelled and thousands of jobs lost. ‘Support Act’, the mental health charity for music industry professionals, saw a 52% increase in demand for counselling through their Wellbeing Helpline from April to June (the period covering the Lockdown in NSW). This figure looks set to increase further as the pandemic continues to take effect.

Mental health is an issue close to our hearts at Rave Reviewz, since our founder Dr Kamran Ahmed is a psychiatrist who became aware of the high rates of mental illness in the music industry when he launched Rave Reviewz.

The mental health benefits of music are well known - it can improve your mood and reduce stress, and music therapy is used to treat a range of mental illnesses. Music is also a great way to raise awareness of mental health issues and raise money so mental health charities can continue their great work.

That's why we launched our music and mental health campaign - ‘MUSIC ON MY MIND’ and we hope you can support the cause!

MUSIC ON MY MIND 2019

With the help of grants from City of Sydney and Way Ahead, we raised a total of $18,750AUD for mental health charities Support Act and ReachOut. Big thanks to our event partners Ticketswap, Moshtix, Keep Sydney Open, Electronic music conference, Audio technica and all of Sydney's electronic music community for their support.

For our charity rave, we teamed up with Subsonic Music, S.A.S.H, Blueprint and WeLove for our monster dress-up fundraising rave at Oxford Art Factory, featuring B2B sets from some of Sydney’s biggest DJs.

Throughout October 2019, we also raised awareness of mental health issues through our music related content. Here's one of our interviews with techno legend Oliver Huntemann:

MUSIC ON MY MIND 2018

In 2018, with a grant from City of Sydney and the support of Sydney's electronic music industry, we raised a total of $18,750 for mental health charities Support Act, beyondblue and Black Dog Institute through our fundraising rave and online appeal. Our social media campaign on mental health also reached over 200,000 people, helping to raise awareness.

Music on my Mind: Rave for Mental Health 2018