In the Royal Albert Concert Hall in London in 2018, a piano concert was unexpected-the chief pianist found that Steinway grand piano, worth 5 million pounds, had a mechanical failure during the audition. The performance with the London Symphony Orchestra was almost aborted, and the crisis was not resolved until the insurance company urgently deployed musical instruments of the same specification. Behind this incident, it is the special charm of the professional field of musician insurance.
In Paris, France, the insurance company will insure the vocal cords of opera singers for life. When the 28-year-old soprano Mathilde faced surgery due to sudden vocal cyst, her vocal cord insurance not only covered all medical expenses, but also provided vocal music recovery training funds for half a year after surgery. This guarantee system covering the whole career cycle stems from the European music education system's great attention to the life value of artists.
The "Creative Career Guarantee Plan" launched by the National Musicians Association of the United States provides a unique economic safety net for freelance musicians. Aidan, an independent composer in Brooklyn, received a basic income compensation of $2,000 per month with this insurance during the COVID-19 epidemic. The program also provides value-added services such as psychological consultation and copyright registration consultation for artists to help them maintain their creative vitality in uncertainty.
The case of public liability insurance of the Royal Dutch Concert Hall Orchestra is more professional. In 2019, an open-air concert in Amsterdam was hit by thunderstorm. When the stage equipment accidentally injured several spectators, the insurance company quickly started the claim settlement procedure, which not only paid all medical expenses, but also provided legal risk assessment services for the orchestra's subsequent performances. This comprehensive security system enables art performances to continue in an environment with controllable risks.
In the jazz club in Shibuya, Tokyo, many musicians will take out special insurance for improvisation. When Kentaro, a saxophonist, is damaged in an impromptu performance, this insurance not only compensates for the maintenance cost of the instrument, but also provides him with a substitute instrument to continue the performance. This kind of scene product developed by Japanese insurance company is tailored to the unpredictability of live music.
The complexity of musician insurance is also reflected in its deep construction of artistic creation environment. Berlin Philharmonic's comprehensive insurance plan for global tour covers many dimensions, such as musical instrument transportation, venue leasing, personal safety of artists, etc. When the musical instrument transportation was delayed during the tour in Munich in 2019, the insurance company not only assumed the cost of temporarily renting musical instruments of the same grade, but also provided additional transportation subsidies for orchestra members. This all-round guarantee enables art groups to maintain the consistency and stability of their creation in the complex international tour environment.
From the opera performance of Lincoln Center in New York to the symphony of Vienna Golden Hall, from the modern dance drama of Sydney Opera House to the ballet feast of Moscow Grand Theatre, the international insurance industry has built an invisible support network for the music industry through refined product design. The existence of this professional security system not only provides artists with a sense of economic security, but also makes the spiritual world of human beings continue to bloom in an environment with controllable risks and become an indispensable stable force in the ecological chain of artistic creation.
