The Musicians' Union: A Social History

The UK music industries are worth £3.9 Billion per annum (Page 2010) and the creative industries remain high on the political agenda. Yet too little is known about the lived experience of a key set of creative workers - musicians. Through the prism of the history of the British Musicians' Union (MU) this research aims to develop a new understanding of this key group of workers underpinned by access to a unique and previously untapped resource - the MU Archive.

Since the formation of its precursor - the Amalgamated Musicians' Union in 1893 - the MU has played a highly significant yet largely unexplored role in the UK's broader musical, cultural, and socio-economic life. As it has included interactions and negotiations with, amongst others, the BBC, orchestras, government, other trades unions, music industries' employers and copyright agencies, the scale of the MU's activities mean that its story provides major insights in to the UK's broader social history.

We will examine musicians as particular types of workers, highlighting the implications of their working patterns for their organisation within a trade union. An examination of the ways in which the MU has operated will provide further insight into the history of the UK's music industries. This will include investigating the extent to which its actions can best be seen as attempts to uphold the professional standing and remuneration of musicians, or as attempts to prevent or slow down inevitable changes in the production of music. In order to provide a balanced perspective, we will interview employers of musicians and thus seek to provide a disinterested account of both sides of the negotiating table.

A number of key themes is likely to emerge. One is the role of technology and the ways in which the MU sought to resist those technological changes which it believed threatened its members' livelihoods. This includes its reaction to radio which was founded on the principle that as much music as possible should be live. We will investigate how it restricted the amount of recorded music played on the radio through 'needletime' agreements with the BBC and the PPL and its continued influence on radio policy via its members' involvement with the BBC orchestras. We will also examine how the MU reacted to the advent of the 'talkies' - which made cinema orchestras redundant - and to the rise of recorded music - which lead to its 'Keep Music Live' campaign. Of particular interest in such cases will be how the MU's restrictive practices have contributed to the kinds of music which resulted.

A related issue is that of non-union labour such as amateurs, military bands and foreign musicians. We will examine how the MU reacted to such perceived threats and how its negotiations with both employers and government gives insight into broader societal concerns around labour policies. especially with regard to immigration.

A further area will be the impact of musical genre on musicians' lives. We will examine both publicly and commercially funded musical activities (such as concerts, recording and teaching) and how the MU has sought to influence provision in all areas. In doing so we aim to shed further light on how genre impacts on both the type of music which is supplied to the public and on musicians themselves. We will also show how certain ideologies within certain musical genres militated against MU membership and examine the impact of that on musicians, the music and the MU.

Our research is designed to provide the first full account of one of the UK's most significant cultural intermediaries. It is premised on a belief that the MU is uniquely placed to provide insight in to the lives of artistic creators and the industries within which they work(ed). Through a critical examination of the MU's history we aim to gain further understanding not only of the creative industries but also the broader UK society.

The project is intended to target a wide range of audiences and potential users.
1. THE PUBLIC:
Musicians are of perennial interest to the public and public engagement lies at the heart of our vision. We will provide a public exhibition and a public lecture in Glasgow as well as lectures/discussions at selected music festivals. The project's website will allow members of the public to access information about the project, as well as selected digitised archival artefacts and audio interviews with key members of the MU and those with whom it has interacted.
2. DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT ARCHIVE
The University of Stirling has an agreement with the MU to maintain and catalogue the MU archive. However, without a music department and experienced musicologists, they lack the expertise to interpret and maximise the impact of the archive. As evidenced by our current work on live music (see Case for Support), we are highly experienced in music historical research and have the necessary specialised knowledge to both analyse the significance of the archive and bring its wealth to a public audience. We will do so via a number of outlets and in conjunction with the MU.
3. THE CITIES OF GLASGOW, MANCHESTER AND LONDON.
By concentrating on three specific case studies, the project will bring benefits to the cities of Glasgow, Manchester and London. The exhibition, conference and concert in Glasgow will engage the public and support the city's already established policies of promoting tourism, citizen engagement and enhancing the city's musical heritage and cultural life. We will work in conjunction with other initiatives in each city, such as Glasgow UNESCO City of Music and disseminate findings to the Peoples History Museum in Manchester and the British Library in London.
4. MUSICIANS:
We will engage directly with musicians of all ages, both MU and non-MU members and actively solicit their recollections via arranged interviews with the RA and via the interactive component of the project website. This will allow musicians who worked and performed in any of the three case study cities to submit their thoughts and photos for public display via the website. Musicians of particular interest will be contacted for follow-up interviews. The project will also hold workshops at the MU conferences in 2013 and 2015 and a final conference to share the research. It will enhance understanding and encourage discussion of what it means to be a musician and a part of musical life in each of the three cities and in Britain as a whole.
5. SELECTED MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES:
The Mitchell Library in Glasgow will benefit from the exhibition, conference and concert that the project will provide. The exhibition content will be customised to the city with selected artefacts from the MU's role within it. We will work with Keith Ames, editor of the Musicians Union journal, who has experience of exhibiting MU artefacts. We will also aim to enhance the objectives of the Mitchell to attract and engage new visitors. We also add a permanent resource in the form of recorded interviews to the oral history collection of the British Library and will work with the People's History Museum in Manchester to advance local knowledge there.
6. MUSIC POLICY MAKERS:
The research will be disseminated to UK Music and the MU, both of whom engage with the DCMS to lobby for particular music policies. By researching the history of musical labour in Britain the project will contribute to public discourse and enhance understanding about the cultural and economic value of the musical profession. We will also examine lessons to be learned from historical interactions between government and musicians, with a view towards making better informed policy in future in areas such as 1) arts policies; 2) the grouping of music into larger policy concepts such as the creative industrie