When The Lion King debuted in Australia in 2003, there were 17 musicians in the orchestra pit. Now there are just 11. Worldwide, musical theatre productions are culling musicians to reduce costs, driven by increasingly sophisticated software like KeyComp from German company KeyComp GmbH.
KeyComp Threatens Live Music Jobs
Developed by former Apple software engineer Christoph Buskies, KeyComp allows a single keyboardist to perform melodic lines while the software adds custom-recorded orchestral parts that interact dynamically with the keyboardist's touch and tempo in real time. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) reports that musicians are losing jobs or being stretched further as this technology replaces human players.
"Our fear is that musicians are in danger of disappearing from live theatre events altogether," says James Steendam, federal president of the musicians section of the MEAA and a Sydney-based violinist and violist with two decades of pit work.
International Bans and Union Campaigns
Thanks to successful union campaigning, KeyComp is banned in New York, Washington DC, and Hamburg, where the software company is based. The MEAA is calling for a ban or restrictions in Australia. "In Los Angeles, if a producer wants to use it, they have to pay a big levy to the unions; and in New York, where the unions are very strong, there's a minimum orchestra size in each theatre," Steendam says.
Brisbane-based musician Diana Tolmie, a senior lecturer at Queensland Conservatorium, has seen the pit shrink first-hand. She has played woodwind instruments for 30 years in over 100 productions. Currently performing in Beetlejuice the Musical, which ends its Australian tour on 5 July due to "increasing cost pressures," she notes that orchestras are reduced by smaller orchestrations and KeyComp. Where there were once six violinists, now there are one or two, boosted by a keyboardist playing KeyComp parts.
Impact on Musicians and Training
"Older musicals were based on 24-piece bands," Tolmie says. "Newer jukebox musicals have smaller, rock-based bands." She adds that the work is getting harder: "I hit the peak last year with seven instruments to play in a show – piccolo, flute, clarinet, soprano/alto/tenor and baritone saxophone. It was hectic." The increased demands affect training, as the expectation is that musicians must immediately perform at a seasoned level. "As someone who teaches the future generation of professional musicians, I really worry about this," Tolmie says.
Economic Arguments and Real Costs
Australian producers argue that KeyComp is a necessary response to rising costs, including set-building, transport, theatre hire, and advertising. Steendam counters that musicians are not the cause of cost blowouts. "Musicians are being paid around 20–25% less now than they were in 2003 if we adjust for inflation," he explains. "By cutting six musicians a big show might save around $9,500 a week – which is not a significant amount when you consider that The Lion King is the highest-grossing musical of all time."
Academic and author Rod Davies from Monash University says the issue is cultural: "Fundamentally, it's a cultural-philosophical issue: do we actually value our musicians?"
Broader Implications for the Music Industry
The threat from KeyComp is amplifying insecurity among orchestra and pit band musicians, says Lachlan Bramble, violinist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and national president of the Symphony Orchestra Musicians' Association. While KeyComp does not use AI, other programs like Suno and Udio do. "Right now, the biggest impact is being felt among musicians working in gaming, film, TV and advertising. Those recording sessions and composing gigs are already starting to dry up," Bramble says. He warns that replacing real musicians shortchanges audiences: "You can't replace the feeling of what happens in the moment when you have human beings playing real instruments."
Tolmie agrees: "I worry if we embrace KeyComp the audience will no longer understand what 'live music' is, will not be discerning, and then that will extend to other areas of the music industry. For pit orchestras, we are out of sight – therefore the most vulnerable."
