'One fifth of the British public are frustrated musicians'

A new poll has found that 20 per cent of those questioned said they feel they are frustrated musicians who would ideally like to jack their jobs in for a shot at the music business.

The poll, commissioned by the O2 Undiscovered music programme, revealed that a quarter of the members of the British public who were questioned said that The Beatles would be the ideal band to forge a career in if they could choose any act through history.

When the results were broken down by profession, builders were found to have the highest percentage of those who desired to work in the music business, with 11 per cent saying they would ideally like to make the switch.

Doctors comprised the next most music job-hungry category, with 10 per cent saying they wanted to work in the music business.

Three quarters of those surveyed said they had not been encouraged at school or by their parents to pursue a career in the music industry. Around half said there was not enough information about careers in the industry provided by schools.