iaspm uk and ireland, september 2012
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M A R T I N C L O O N A N A N D J O H N W I L L I A M S O N
5 T H S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2
Researching The Musicians’ Union
Outline
ContextPerceptions of the MUAbout the ProjectWhy it is important
Context
Amalgamated Musicians’ Union formed in Manchester, 1893
Merger with London Orchestral Union of Professional Musicians in 1921
31 482 members (2011).
Enemies of the Union
“You are invited to attend a meeting in Manchester on 7th May 1893 to discuss forming a Union for orchestral players. The Union that we require is a protection Union. One that will protect us from amateurs, protect us from unscrupulous employers, and protect us from ourselves. [J.B.Williams, 1893]
Perceptions
London Orchestral Association: “organised tyranny which is the curse of modern trades unionism in this country” (1894)
William Boosey, PRS: “these gentlemen who are the spoilt darlings of the musical profession” (1922)
McKay: “the ban did sterling work over two decades in keeping professional British jazz and dance music white.”
“Virtually every one of the music’s practitioners, nearly all of whom were black, were kept out of Britain by an overwhelmingly white organisation, the Musicians Union” (2005)
Perceptions
Oliver: “the ‘ban’ was as inflexibly applied as it was stupidly imposed.” (1980)
Frith: “the MU has always been out of touch with the particular needs of rock musicians.” (1978)
Street: “as each innovation appears to threaten jobs, the MU has resisted each one in turn, first opposing multi-track recording, then mellotrons and finally synthesisers and drum machines. While inspired by a desire to protect members, the MU’s policy appears as merely reactionary.” (1985)
Perceptions
Sweeting: “a left-wing, doctrinaire organisation as secretive and tight-lipped as the KGB.” (2001)
Mendick: “the glorious unreconstructed ways of the Musicians’ Union . .you have a scenario that would make Arthur Scargill weep with nostalgia.” (2001)
Lawson: “it is a massive black mark on a Union that has done so much for grassroots music. You’re effectively crapping on the best music discovery, fan-generating, culture-sharing, life-benefitting ecosphere that musicians in the world have ever experienced.” (2010)
About the Project
Extension of previous work on music industries, generally and
Live music industry AHRC project – Importance of pre-1955 music industries Importance of MU in these agreements
Primary source: Musicians’ Union archive @ University of Stirling: Minutes and agreements Publications Correspondence
Importance
3 main areas:
trade unionworking as a musicianthe music industries
Importance / Trade Union
Lack of dispassionate analysis from both inside and outside the union
No detailed history of the UnionFootnote in the history of Trade Unionism – but
Involvement in TUC and its leadership Unique contemporary nature of the Union
Importance / Working Musicians
Debates around what constitutes a musician and who can become a member
Craft Union vs. General Union?Problems of acceptance of part-time/ semi-professional
members
Importance / Music industries
Union missing from most accounts of British music industries
MU at the centre of agreements underpinning relationships between employers and musicians – for example: MU rates for live performance BBC / ITV/ Broadcasting agreements PPL / public performance Lobbying with other industry organisations on copyright related
claims
Conclusions
Need for history of Musicians’ Union of interest beyond labour relations / Union members
MU as a lens for understanding the music industries and how these have changed – specifically with regard to: Organisation of workers in the music industries Payments / how creative work has been rewarded
Conclusions
Caves (2000): “ The basic forces driving the organisation of workers in creative activities”
Hesmondhalgh (2007): “how has creative work been rewarded in the complex professional era?”
Need to understand why it acted the way it did, when it did.
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