The Musicians' Union Podcast: Recent Episodes
Musicians' Union
The MU is a community of around 32,000 musicians working to protect our members’ rights and campaign for a fairer music industry. Four times a year we publish The Musician magazine for our members. Here you can listen to the audio recordings of our quarterly publication.
Winter 2023 print edition highlights
- Assessing the threat of musicians being replicated and replaced by Artificial Intelligence
- All the news from the 40th MU Biennial Delegate Conference
- In-demand studio session bassist Steve Pearce with impeccable feel and groove
Summer 2023 print edition highlights
- Orchestra and theatre tax relief welcomed by the MU
- Record-breaking year for MU royalty payments
- MU General Secretary: AI: An Existential Threat?
- How the Union is combatting misogyny and sexism in music
- The MU fights to protect the livelihoods of the BBC Singers
- Assessing the health of the UK’s grassroots music scene
- Supporting neurodiversity in education and the profession
- Music production: the creative dos and don’ts in the studio
- Essential MU advice for hiring deps for your function band
- Cover star: David Kofi, rising jazz keyboardist who draws on diverse styles
Winter 2022 print edition highlights* How trade unions have united over the UK cost of living crisis * MU hosts a landmark equality, diversity and inclusion summit * Cover star: flautist Sarah Bennett with the Hallé Orchestra and freelance player * Why musicians must take action to protect their hearing at work
Summer 2022 print edition highlights * Naomi Pohl elected as the first female MU General Secretary * How are musicians coping, post-Covid restrictions * Sustainable touring and the steps musicians are taking * A hands-on guide to choosing and using card readers – now a vital tool for live musicians * A new MU deal for RCO organists and members * New orchestral advisory group promises a voice for musicians * Cover star: CJ Hillman, in-demand session player and multi-instrumentalist
Spring 2022 edition highlights * Reports from Horace as MU General Secretary and Naomi as Deputy General Secretary * Profiles of Shao Dow, south London rapper and grime artist, and Iona Fyfe, Scots traditional singer and stalwart activist * A report from the 2022 ABO Conference in Glasgow * The pros and cons of releasing recorded music on vinyl * The MU’s Composers Against Buyouts campaign * A focus on Universal Basic Income * How music teachers can boost their businesses * How musicians can make the most of TikTok * Our regular ‘Tools Of The Trade’ column features drummer and percussion teacher John Park, while ‘Why I Joined’ tells the member journeys of Lisa Redford and Jermain Jackman * Reminders of our Statutory Notices for members can be found on page 37 * This edition also sees the return of the Tributes section and includes an obituary of former Assistant General Secretary, Jack Stoddart.
Welcome to our podcast on Health & Safety (H&S) Reps and health and safety in the workplace.
This first episode is for new H&S Reps to listen to prior to the Union provided Stages 1 2 & 3 health and safety training. This episode gives an overall, basic introduction to the role of an H&S Rep.
Documents mentioned:
- Consulting employees on health and safety – a brief guide to the law (Brown Book)
- 5 Steps to Risk Assessment
- Guidance on exposure to noise ‘Sound Advice’
An Introduction to Health and Safety
With Morris Stemp, Orchestras Official and Roger Sutton, Health and Safety Specialist for the Musicians’ Union
- Introduction to some of the problems that face us
- Union duties when appointing H&S Reps
- Hierarchies of H&S Reps: what abilities and protections does an H&S Rep have in the workplace, and what actions an employer should take to deal with hazards and problems
- Covid and the Workplace
- Controlling Noise in the Workplace
- Risk and Risk Assessments
- Support for H&S Reps and first steps
To send us suggestions for our next H&S Podcast or if you are interested in becoming a H&S Rep please email orchestral@themu.org.
For more information on health and safety in your workplace please visit the MU website.
For individual health and wellbeing advice contact the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM).
Soundtrack Forever Happy by Paul Leonard Morgan.
Winter 2021 edition highlights * Lady Nade: singer-songwriter and emerging talent on the UK Americana scene * Climate: How musicians have responded to COP26 * How musicians should deal with incidences of being asked to play for no fee * Tips on how musicians can optimise Instagram, a social media home for all creatives * Matthew Parry: one of the go-to brass players who has made musical theatre his life * General Secretary Election 2022
- All the news and discussion from the 39th MU Conference
- MU heralds the findings of the DCMS streaming report
- Returning to rehearsals
- The MU’s new access riders
- MU achieves pay increase for freelance extras and deputies
- Back in France: pros and cons with Tankus The Henge
- Maintaining my instrument: tabla
- How to create clear and accessible social media content for your audience
- Rosie Frater-Taylor: Genrespanning artist discusses her coming-of-age second album
- Robin Rimbaud: The electronic musician known as Scanner exudes a real DIY ethic
- Reviews: new albums, EPs and downloads from members
- MU General Secretary Election in early 2022
Summer 2021 edition highlights * New survey shows that fans are eager for live music events * MU makes record royalties payment to its members * MU slams 50% funding cut to arts-based higher education * How musicians are making a diference with dementia care * Composers against buyouts * Tomorrow’s Warriors: 30 years of nurturing new jazz talent * Meet UK Music’s new CEO * Metadata: vital information for digital music releases * Robert Vincent: A leading light of the UK Americana scene * Ruth Hallows: Cellist, educator and writer who tells it like it is
- Delegate nominations
- Conference motions
The MU’s Delegate Conference will be held online on 20 and 21 July 2021. The conference receives a report from the Executive Committee on its activities since the last Conference, considers Conference motions and amendments originating from Regional Committees, discusses and decides matters of policy and determines rule changes.
Spring 2021 edition highlights * MU secures carnet discount for members touring the EU * How pressure is mounting for musicians touring the EU * Focus on the DCMS inquiry on the Economics of Streaming * A new MU review of digital distribution aggregators * How music educators have adapted to online teaching * The UK hip-hop scene: its legacy and its luminaries * Yazz Ahmed: trumpeter, fugelhornist and composer * Tribute to John Morton, former MU General Secretary
Musicians’ Union Election Results Independent Scrutineer’s Report. This report is issued in accordance with the Trades Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 as amended.
MU members are invited to submit Motions to the Union’s policy-making biennial event, being held online for the first time.
A look at some of the new albums, EPs and downloads released by MU members for 2020, together with links for more information on the featured artists.
With Covid shutting down income streams, it’s never been more important to make your original music work harder. With expert advice from songwriters and industry insiders, Henry Yates investigates how you could benefit from a publishing deal, how to secure one – and the common pitfalls to avoid.
Pioneering British-Asian jazz composer and performer Arun Ghosh is talking about his beloved clarinet, and it’s a bit like hearing someone describe a soulmate.
There is money out there to be claimed by our members, so here’s a rundown of the financial support schemes that are still live or returning soon…
It’s never been more important to find alternative methods of promoting our music. Thankfully, plenty of online tools exist, but getting the best out of them can become a full-time job.
Focusing on methods and strategies to keep our physical and emotional wellbeing on track during the winter and the second wave of coronavirus.
No UK musician contemplating the devastating potential of Brexit back in January 2020 could have ever predicted that things were about to get a whole lot worse. The first signs came in early February with a trickle of cancellations by major artists in Asia, Europe and the US. But by early March, musicians across genres and disciplines were pulling whole tours as the true impact of the new Covid-19 virus dawned.
At midday on 6 October, 400 freelance orchestral musicians from across the industry assembled in Parliament Square, Westminster, for a socially distanced performance and protest called Let Music Live. The aim of the event, and its simultaneous performance in Birmingham’s Centenary Square, was to raise awareness of the need for targeted support for freelance musicians and all those who work in the arts and entertainment sector.
Whether working with an orchestra, a solo artist or a rock band, Fiona Brice is most at home when she’s bringing two musical worlds together. Profile by Katie Nicholls.
With Black History Month following a year of heightened awareness of institutional bias, we look at how the Black experience in music is set to change after 2020. Report by Rahel Aklilu.
The lockdown has only underlined how pitifully small the musician’s share of streaming revenue has always been. And at a time when every penny is precious, Naomi Pohl, Deputy General Secretary, examines what the MU is doing to change all this.
How your Union is working hard to get a fair financial deal for all musicians in the current pandemic, and preparing for life in the post-lockdown world. Foreword by General Secretary.
Audio reads of the Musician magazine's Autumn 2020 edition by Musicians' Union. In this edition:
- Singer-songwriter Eliza Shaddad and her musical journey
- Naomi Pohl on why royalties for writers and performers are sacrosanct
- The future of classical music
- Composer, arranger and musician Steve Sidwell on Life in lockdown and beyond
- Artificial Intelligence and its impact on copyright
- Finding an agent for your live music work
- Disabled musicians in the Covid-19 crisis