How to save the BBC Singers

Classical twitterati have been busy retweeting Andrew Neil's tweet comparing Gary Lineker's £1.3 million salary with the £1.5 million needed to save the BBC Singers. But no-one has tweeted the most recent figures showing that the ten highest paid classical conductors earnt in one year a total of £13.8 million. This means that the average salary (before guest conducting, recording and other fees) of the top ten conductors is slightly higher than Gary Lineker's. Moreover a 10% top slice off those conductors' salaries would be almost enough to save the BBC Singers. Over to you twitterati. 

Comments

Pliable said…
In view of the total nonsense on Slipped Disc and elsewhere on this subject it is worth pointing out that the highest paid classical conductor in the survey linked on this post was Riccardo Muti whose annual salary from the Chicago Symphony was £2.8 million before guest conducting and other income. Which is more than double Gary Lineker's salary and almost twice the amount needed to save the BBC Singers.
1:25 pm
Pliable said…
An anonymous reader has submitted a comment stating "these top conductors aren't paid entirely with licence payers money as Gary Lineker and the BBC Singers are, which is a more relevant comparison".

Like almost all the discussion of this subject, the comment shows a poor grasp of the facts. 'The licence fee accounted for 71% of BBC funding in 2021/22. Total BBC income in 2021/22 was £5.33 billion, 71% of which came from the licence fee revenues. The remaining 29% or £1.53 billion came from commercial and other activities (such as grants, royalties and rental income)' source Parliament Library UK - https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8101/

As stated in several previous posts, a better understanding of the facts and a more balanced viewpoint would better make the case against the misguided decision to disband the BBC Singers.
9:02 am
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