Covid-19: Wigan music store owners are paying artists to perform online from their own homes

Symphony Music, in Market Street, is one of the many “non-essential” outlets forced to close as part of the government’s lockdown measures.

Its owners David and Michelle Bamford opened in Ashton 13 years ago and have been in the town centre for the past decade. And the couple, who have a 12-year-old daughter Gabriella, are keen to support local performers whose livelihoods wrecked by the closures of all performance venues including pubs and clubs.

On their Facebook page, David and Michelle, both 41, said: “Many of our customers are suffering, and we want to help. The Government has pledged a bit of help for companies like us, but little yet for the self-employed like many of our gigging customers who perform for a living.

“We can’t help everyone... but we may be able to give a few meals to some people who have really had the rug pulled from under them. So, we’re pledging £1000 of our own cash to support some local musicians. But let’s be clear: this isn’t a donation. This is payment for a professional service that these musicians will provide, that they deserve to be paid for.”

Musicians will be paid £50 to perform for 20 minutes from their own homes, live on Facebook. The store only asks that each artist mention Symphony Music during the livestream.

They added: “We can’t save the world; we are a small independent store from little Wigan, but we can do our little bit. And hopefully some of the big boys with deeper pockets in our industry can follow suit and do something much bigger. Let’s see.”

Scholes singer Joe Astley will be the first performer today, Thursday March 26, at 2pm. To find out more about start times, visit facebook.com/symphonystore