One of the five priority themes of the Council Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022 is ‘An ecosystem supporting artists, cultural and creative professionals and European content’. The objective of this study is to explore the concept of artist status and the working conditions and career paths of artists and creative professionals. This study has been conducted during what are extremely challenging times for the cultural and creative sectors amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of writing, European countries are deploying unprecedented emergency responses to address the challenges facing the public health and social security systems across the continent. COVID-19 has already had a dramatic effect on the cultural and creative sectors, and the closure of cultural venues, along with the cancellation of performances, exhibitions and festivals is resulting in catastrophic economic, social, cultural and human consequences. As the following sections of this report will show, cultural and creative sector professionals are often already in a precarious situation (self-employed, freelancers, irregular contracts…), and with the additional circumstances related to COVID-19, many are left without any regular sources of income.