The Musicians' Union (MU) is an organisation which represents over 30,000 musicians working in all sectors of the British music business.
Royalties
The Musicians' Union (MU) Royalty Department, in its current form, was set up in July 2011. For the most part it deals with income for non-featured (session musicians) from the further use or secondary use of sound recordings on which they have performed. The MU uses existing
collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...
agreements with the
British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) to invoice record companies, film companies, advertising companies and production companies for use of performances, and is then responsible in distributing the funds collected to both MU members and non-MU members. The MU has no accessible database for member or non-member performers to access or cross-reference
sound recordings
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...
in which they have performed.
History
On 7 May 1893 in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
a meeting was held to form a union for musicians, twenty musicians attended and formed the Manchester Musicians' Union.
[ ] The meeting had been organised by the union's first secretary,
Joseph Bevir Williams, who became the leader of the Amalgamated Musicians' Union as the union was renamed to include artists from across the United Kingdom.
On 8 June 1893, the first branch was formed in
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
, with branches being formed in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in the first year and over one thousand members joined.
By 1894 the union had over two thousand members, and another seventeen branches had opened, these were focused in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, the Midlands and the North of England.
The union's first General Meeting was held in Manchester in 1893, the first conference took place in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
the following year where the elected committee was appointed.
In 1894 the first strike happened in Liverpool Court Theatre, management had offered that the musicians in the orchestra take a pay cut and in doing so the theatre would open for four of the eight weeks during the summer when the theatre would normally shut.
Williams led the strike and was able to have the wages of the majority of the orchestra reinstated.
Further strikes happened in 1895 and 1897 in Leeds, in Oldham in 1897 and Northampton from 1908 to 1909.
One of the prevalent reasons that the union had to strike in these places was due to management of theatres changing hands, the new management reduced wages or sacked those that were a part of the union and this led to strike action.
By 1895 membership had risen to over 3,000 and stayed at around this level until 1907.
The issues that had caused the union to form were still prevalent at the start of the 1900s; there were too many musicians with not enough jobs, this issue was exacerbated by European musicians coming over to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
to play.
In 1897 a Blue Hungarian Band played at
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the Diamond jubilee, 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to cel ...
, the union wrote to the government over the issue and the outcome was that foreign musicians could only join the union if they had been a resident in the country for over two years or had a membership to the musicians' union of their own country.
Only musicians that were members of the union could play in the orchestras around the United Kingdom.
The union used the fees from membership to pay for wages for those that were striking, litigation fees for cases brought against members of the union or against the union itself and to pay for the printing of pamphlets and letters for its members.
Copies of the union's report were sold for 1d, and the profit from this publication was used for the union's benevolent fund, this was used at a local level to pay for funeral bills of musicians that had died.
After the
RMS ''Titanic'' sunk on the 15 April 1912, the families of the eight musicians that had died on board the ship were given monies from the fund, the union also held a memorial concert at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
and sold over 80,000 copies of a print that depicted the musicians that had died.
In 1909 a protest was held, through a barge on the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
was covered in banners raising the issues that musicians were facing in the United Kingdom passing the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
.
World War I
During the
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
membership rose from 8,608 in 1914 to 14,649 in 1918.
Williams called off the disputes and strike action that branches were to take part in, Williams spoke with the management of halls and theatres in the hope of keeping the establishments open he agreed that every union member would take a pay cut to try and keep the buildings open during the war.
There was a rise in people wishing to be entertained during the war, which meant that though there was a number of turnover during the war there was still enough musicians to fill the numbers needed.
This was partly due to musicians, like women, amateurs and foreigners being allowed to fill spots that they would not typically have been able to apply for.
Musicians' Union
In 1921 the Musicians' Union was formed when the Amalgamated Musicians' Union merged with the National Orchestra Union of Professional Musicians (NOUPM).
Williams resigned from the Union in 1924, after he announced partial retirement in 1923 due to his wife's and his own ill health.
E. S. Teale took over from Williams for the next six years; however, Teale's health meant that the Assistant General Secretary,
Fred Dambman had to step in towards the end of Teale's time with the union to complete the tasks that Teale was unable to.
Musicians had to find ways to adapt as jobs became more varied and they often had to learn new instruments and be flexible in order to keep their employment.
This was partly due to the start of the
British Broadcasting Company
The British Broadcasting Company Limited (BBC) was a short-lived British commercial broadcasting company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Licensed by the British Gener ...
, many musicians gained employment with the organization, and the BBC became the first employer to offer their musicians a year-long contract with fixed hours, holiday allowance and a salary.
The BBC had a significant number of orchestras, these were broken down either by their location, or their style and were highly coveted positions in the music industry.
The rise of the 'talkies'
The transition from silent films to 'talkies' meant that fewer musicians were employed at cinemas as sound was now pre-recorded.
''
The Jazz Singer
''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...
'' was the first of the talkies, and was first screened in the
USA in 1927; by 1929
Fox had stopped making silent films and the rest of industry soon followed.
There was a decline in membership to the union as many musicians became unemployed due to the rise of the 'talkies'.
The
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) trade union, labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in N ...
(AFM) was also put under pressure with 50,000 members being put out of work by 1928.
MPPA
The Musical Performers' Protection Association (MPPA) was formed in 1928 by the MU; this was to fight against the reproduction of member's work due to the advancement in technology which allowed for the recording of musicians work.
There was no fee to join, and by June 1929 the Association had over 5,000 members.
It was short lived as it could not fight against the rise of popularity in the 'talkies', the Association realised this and chose instead to focus its energy on the rise in popularity in using recordings on the radio and in public places.
World War II
The union did not want to follow Williams' footsteps in World War I and bargain for lesser wages for musicians, instead they hoped that the same pattern would repeat itself and that the music rise would see an increase in employment due to some musicians joining up.
Membership rose to over 12,000 by 1945, this number had not been seen since 1931.
Hardie Ratcliffe
Fred Dambman had become General Secretary after E. S. Teale in 1931, before taking on this role Dambman had been the Assistant General Secretary.
He was to retire in 1945, but the MU asked for him to stay in the post which he did until the vote for the new General Secretary in February 1948.
Hardie Ratcliffe won the election by over one thousand, with his only opponent for the role being Bettram Newton Brooke.
Ratcliffe was determined to fight against the use of recordings in dance halls unless the establishments paid the musicians for their contribution.
This was partly achievable through the union's partnership with the help of
Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) which had been established in 1934.
The popularity of records meant that live bands did not draw in the crowds that they once did, music halls were better to turn on the records rather than pay for a band.
A the start of the 1970s the BBC was looking to reduce the size and the number orchestra which came as a blow to the MU.
The union asked the government to get involved, and Ratcliffe was relieved that the government was willing to help on this occasion, the BBC agreed not to fire large parts of the orchestra, however, from this year onwards they discussed the closing of all the orchestras.
The launch of ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' meant that viewers were watching live music but they were paying nothing towards the artist performing, the union enforced a ban which meant that the artists had to mime along to the song.
This ban was enforceable since 1966.
Ratcliffe lobbied the government to push forward new copyright legislation; however, the legislation was not enshrined by law until 1996.
In 1970 Ratcliffe discussed his plans to retire, the election for the position was between three individuals of which
John Morton won.
John Morton
John Morton had been with the union for years and had held a number of positions with the organisation, he was excited to take on the role due to so many of the previous members of the committee retiring around the same time, this allowed fresh blood to guide the union.
The BBC had been assessing their need for twelve-piece orchestras and the expense in having them, by 1976 they employed 589 musicians.
In the early 1980s the BBC were forced to make cuts due to the deficit of their income because licence fees had not kept up with inflation.
Five of the BBC's orchestras were to be disbanded due to the cuts, which equated to 153 full-time and 19 part-time jobs, this was a blow to the union who wanted the members to strike.
The union decided to strike the BBC, in the seventh week they negotiated their terms.
Morton retired in 1989, his successor was Dennis Scard.
Dennis Scard
When Dennis Scard came into the role with the union, he saw that there was an issue with the competition of foreign orchestras taking the jobs as they would accept less wages which promoters were eager to exploit.
Scard and other members negotiated with the BBC regarding those that they contracted for work in one of their orchestras.
In 1990 the union had over 40,000 members.
Scard concern had been to work on the internal workings of the organisation during his time as General Secretary.
He was re-elected unopposed in 1994 and 1999, but this was questioned, and the election was held again in 2000 with Derek Kay opposing Scard.
Kay was receiving a lot of support, but Scard had not told anyone that he had been diagnosed with cancer, which meant he had had an operation and was undergoing radiotherapy during the campaign.
Kay won the election by just eight votes, the next day Scard put in six complaints against Scard to the London District Disciplinary Committee which set off two years of legal battles between Kay and the union.
These legal battles tarnished the union's reputation in the press, Kay was given some compensation for his legal fees, and the position had to go to election once more.
John F. Smith
John F. Smith won the election for the role of General Secretary in the 2002 election; he prompted a fight for reform against the
Licensing Act 2003 as the union believed that it had detrimental effects on musicians wanting to play in bars and pubs.
The fight against reform may have taken many years, but in 2012 the
Live Music Act mean that amplified gigs of under 200 did not need a licence and unamplified gigs did not have a cap.
In 2013, membership was over 30,000 and the union's main expenditure was still staff wages.
2012 had seen the launch of the Work Not Play campaign to help raise awareness of all the musicians that are asked to play for free.
Horace Trubridge
Horace Trubridge
Horace Trubridge (born 15 January 1957) is a trade union leader and musician.
Born in Shoreham-by-Sea as Nigel Trubridge, he learned to play the clarinet and saxophone and played with professional jazz bands while still at school. He joined a num ...
was elected general secretary on 27 March 2017 for a five-year term ending on 27 March 2022. On 5 February 2020 the union's executive passed a motion extending Trubridge's term without re-election to 15 January 2025, his 68th birthday. A member made a complaint to the
Trade Union Certification Officer
The Trades Union Certification Officer was established in the United Kingdom by the Employment Protection Act 1975. They head the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations.
Responsibilities
The Certification Officer is res ...
and a hearing was listed for 18 November. However seven days before the hearing the union rescinded their decision on legal advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Thompsons Solicitors, formerly Robin Thompson & Partners, is a large firm of solicitors founded in 1921 with longstanding links to the trade union movement. It is 45th on the list of largest United Kingdom-based law firms. It specialises in pers ...
. The union confirmed that the next election for the role would now go ahead at the end of Trubridge's current term of office on 27 March 2022.
Other information
At a high point in 1932, using Douglas Anderson as the architect and
Trollope & Colls as the builders, it had a house built, with grounds of 24 acres and a lake, for retired musicians, now called Merebank House, in what is now
Beare Green. The name of the house is recorded on a postcard of the day, as "musicians' convalescent home, Holmwood" – the station 200 yards away is known as
Holmwood railway station, and this area was then known as Holmwood. Sir
Henry Wood
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...
and Lady Wood, and the composer Baron
Frédéric Alfred d'Erlanger were among those who attended a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the musicians' home on 10 June 1932, where the arrival of the Baron was serenaded by 10 trumpeters, 10 trombonists and 10 drummers; musicians were present from the
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
and from the Covent Garden Choir. The Baron used a silver trowel (which was then gifted to him as a souvenir) to lay the home's foundation stone, still present, which bears only his name and the date the stone was laid, making no reference to Sir Henry Wood or to the purpose of the house; the write up of the ceremony to lay the foundation stone that was published in the Leatherhead and Dorking advertiser records that it was planned to build more properties in the grounds, for example a musicians' orphanage, noting that it had taken 10 years from 1922 to 1932, to raise the funds for the site and the first home there. The planning portal of Mole Valley District Council records that permission was applied for in 1948 for three more homes on the site. Later, there was a performance there of Baron Frédéric's opera, ''Tess'', and various other musical performances as recorded in the archives of Dorking museum. Ralph Vaughan-Williams spent time at Leith Hill House, 2 miles away, but no record has yet been uncovered of his visiting the house.
The introduction of "
talkie
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...
" films reduced opportunities for musicians, and membership fell to a low of 7,000 in 1940. By the 1950s, Merebank House and all land had been sold to Dorking and Horley Rural District Council; the land was used for social housing, and for a village hall. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, it grew again, forming the
International Federation of Musicians. It also joined the
Confederation of Entertainment Unions and affiliated to the
Labour Party.
Campaigns
The MU stages regular campaigns in relation to relevant musical and industrial issues. Recent campaigns have included protests outside theatres, in response to the use of recorded music in shows where live music was advertised, and the anti-
Pay to Play
Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mu ...
campaign, an issue which continues to affect the live music scene, particularly at
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
level.
Other MU campaigns include:
*Keep Music Live: The union has used the slogan ''Keep Music Live'' since 1965.
*Music Supported Here: In December 2009, the MU launched a new campaign, entitled Music Supported Here, which aims to raise both awareness of copyright, and also the distribution and use of music, which, the MU states, should be controllable by the musician.
*Work Not Play: In November 2012 the MU launched a new campaign called "Work Not Play", to raise awareness about the growing trend for artists being asked to perform for free. The campaign has been supported by a number of organisations in the industry including notable industry names such as
Skiddle.
Election results
The union sponsored
Labour Party candidates in several parliamentary elections.
General secretaries
:1893:
Joe Williams
:1924: E. S. Teale
:1931:
Fred Dambman
:1948:
Hardie Ratcliffe
:1970:
John Morton
:1990:
Dennis Scard
:2000: Derek Kay
:2002:
John F. Smith
:2017:
Horace Trubridge
Horace Trubridge (born 15 January 1957) is a trade union leader and musician.
Born in Shoreham-by-Sea as Nigel Trubridge, he learned to play the clarinet and saxophone and played with professional jazz bands while still at school. He joined a num ...
:2022:
Naomi Pohl
Naomi Pohl is a British trade union leader.
Pohl attended Cranbrook School and then Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2006, she became Assistant General Secretary of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. She moved to the Musicians' Union ...
References
External links
*
Music Supported Here websiteMusicians' Union Collection at the University of Stirling Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musicians' Union (Uk)
1893 establishments in the United Kingdom
British music industry
Musicians' trade unions
Trade unions established in 1893
Trade unions in the United Kingdom
Trade unions affiliated with the Labour Party (UK)
Trade unions based in London
Trade unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress
Trade unions affiliated with the Scottish Trades Union Congress