ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ambiguous place of professional musicians within England's social hierarchy towards the end of the eighteenth century and the contemporary views of professional musicians during this period. It also discusses the categorisation of musicians as artisans and whether they truly belong under this label. The chapter demonstrates that their levels of income could be on a par with the gentry and show that musicians worked outside normal class restrictions, as well as examines how they could gain social status through commercial success. It shows that whilst some musicians received exceedingly low wages, others were extremely well paid and earned more than some gentlemen. Contemporaries considered musicians to be of low status, distrustful and financially unstable. Historians are starting to move away from the idea of the 'average' musician, showing that multiple narratives exist, and all are equally as important.
