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Musicians' Union (United Kingdom)
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Musicians' Union (United Kingdom)
The Musicians' Union (MU) is an organisation which represents over 30,000 musicians working in all sectors of the British music business.
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 agreements with the British Phonographic Industry (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 in which they have performed.
On 7 May 1893 in Manchester 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, with branches being formed in Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne and Liverpool 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, 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 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 to play. In 1897 a Blue Hungarian Band played at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, 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 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 was covered in banners raising the issues that musicians were facing in the United Kingdom passing the House of Commons.
During the World War I 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.
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Musicians' Union (United Kingdom)
The Musicians' Union (MU) is an organisation which represents over 30,000 musicians working in all sectors of the British music business.
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 agreements with the British Phonographic Industry (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 in which they have performed.
On 7 May 1893 in Manchester 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, with branches being formed in Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne and Liverpool 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, 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 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 to play. In 1897 a Blue Hungarian Band played at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, 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 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 was covered in banners raising the issues that musicians were facing in the United Kingdom passing the House of Commons.
During the World War I 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.