skip to main content

Tonic Rider Launches Peer Support Groups

Tonic Rider is a free mental health initiative for the music industry, launched in 2021. MU members are invited to join its Peer Support Groups.

Published: 20 January 2022 | 12:14 PM
White painted piano outside in the sunshine, with spider plants on top.
Tonic Rider’s Peer Support Groups are for working musicians and music industry professionals to come together in an open (virtual) space. Photo credit: Shutterstock

Tonic Rider’s Peer Support Groups are for working musicians and music industry professionals to come together in an open (virtual) space to share their experiences with fellow professionals. The sessions are facilitated by a trained psychotherapist who is also a musician.

Common themes covered in the sessions include relational difficulties, performance/general anxiety, working environment stress, social media navigation, loss of identity and financial pressure. Individuals with no experience of working in music are not suitable for these sessions.

Each cohort has a maximum number of 12 participants, all of whom are screened beforehand. The groups are funded by Help Musicians, ensuring that they are fully evaluated and free to access. Participants complete a monitoring form each week for their own self-reflection on mental wellbeing and to monitor the effectiveness of the groups.

The next Peer Support Group will begin on Monday 28 February and will meet online weekly at noon until 1:30 pm for six weeks. Register on the Tonic Music website, you can also email tonicrider@tonicmusic.co.uk with any questions. Other dates and times will be made available soon.

Get MU membership today

From gig players to part-time teachers and professional instrumentalists, MU members can access specialist insurance for musicians. This includes Public Liability, Instrument and Equipment Insurance, Accident Insurance, Tax Investigation Insurance, and Professional Indemnity Insurance for music teachers.

Explore our member services

  • Get public liability insurance for musicians
  • Access expert legal support
  • Be represented in your profession
  • Access expert career advice, resources, and training events
  • Connect, network, and get to know the community of musicians

Learn about all membership benefits

Get MU membership today

Continue reading

Top view of an acoustic violin and pernambuco wood bow on a tabletop.

Save Pernambuco Bows: Write to Your MP Today

The MU is calling on members to take urgent action to protect the future of high-quality bow making and the musicians who rely on it, after a proposal to move pernambuco wood from Appendix II to Appendix I.

Published: 10 July 2025

Read more about Save Pernambuco Bows: Write to Your MP Today
MU Head of ED&I John Shortell, with Regional Officer Simeon Scheuber-Rush and MU delegates, on the main stage in front of a blue screen saying “TUC LGBT+ Workers’ Conference 2025

MU Champions Global LGBTQ+ Rights at TUC Conference

Last week, MU members represented the Union at TUC’s annual LGBT+ Workers' Conference, where a motion was passed unanimously on protecting LGBTQ+ rights globally, the value of ED&I work, and promoting greater awareness of intersectional, LGBTQ+ inclusive health and safety issues.

Published: 08 July 2025

Read more about MU Champions Global LGBTQ+ Rights at TUC Conference