Players' work time : a history of the British Musicians' Union, 1893â2013

The book is a critical history of the Musicians’ Union from 1893-2013. It recounts the development of the Union’s history and portrays this as primarily consisting of a set of responses to technological, industrial and socio-political changes. Cover -- Half-title -- Title page -- Copyright information -- Dedication -- Table of contents -- List of figures -- Acknowledgements -- Notes on archives and other sources -- List of abbreviations -- Introduction -- Prologue -- Approach, methods, and sources -- Precedents -- Musicians as workers -- Themes -- 1 Musicians' organisations before 1893 -- Origins -- The nineteenth century -- Musicians' societies -- Moves towards unionism -- New unionism -- The OA and the AMU -- 2 Early days: the Amalgamated Musicians' Union, 1893-1918 -- Musical work in the 1890s -- Union or association? -- Defining the issues -- Recruitment and industrial action -- The AMU in the courts -- Getting the message across -- Political lobbying and campaigning -- War -- Conclusion -- 3 Boom and bust: 1919-1933 -- From the AMU to the MU -- Williams resigns -- The profession -- The arrival of broadcasting -- Recordings -- Crisis in the cinemas -- Competition -- More challenges -- The Dance Band Section and MPPA -- The trade union movement -- Conclusion -- 4 The politics of dancing: 1934-1945 -- Working life -- Politics and internal machinations -- Introducing a 'ban' -- Shaping the Corporation -- Performers' rights and PPL -- War again -- Conclusion -- 5 Worlds of possibilities: 1946-1955 -- A survey -- Bandleaders, composers, and semi-professionals -- A leadership election -- PPL, the BBC, and the post-war recording industry -- The 1946 agreement -- Broadcasting after 1947 -- Public performance -- Internationalism -- Challenging licensing -- Aliens, orchestras, and jazz -- Conclusion -- 6 The beat generation: 1956-1970 -- Skiffle and records -- Beat groups and session musicians -- Orchestras -- Internal affairs -- A new leader -- Keeping music live -- Broadcasting -- Copyright -- Competition and exchanging musicians -- Conclusion -- 7 The John Morton years: 1971-1990 This book examines the working lives of musicians over the past 120 years via the history of the Musicians' Union. The union has been at the centre of all major agreements covering the employment of musicians across the UK's music industries for this period and its role to date has largely been ignored by historians of the music profession, the music industries and trade unions. This book remedies that oversight, providing fresh insight to musicians' working lives, the industries in which they work and wider British social life. It explores a history of confrontation, coercion and compromise played out across the nation's studios, performance spaces and airwaves Front matter Dedication Contents List of figures Acknowledgements Notes on archives and other sources List of abbreviations Introduction Musicians’ organisations before 1893 Early days: the Amalgamated Musicians’ Union, 1893–1918 Boom and bust: 1919–1933 The politics of dancing: 1934–1945 Worlds of possibilities: 1946–1955 The beat generation: 1956–1970 The John Morton years: 1971–1990 Disharmony: 1991–2002 Beginning again: the MU in the twenty-first century Conclusion Appendix: list of interviews References Index This is about musicians'working lives in Britain from the late Victorian era to the present day. Using the Musicians'Union as a prism through which to explore those lives, the book illuminates the key factors which shape musicians'working lives including such things as changes in technology, law and the music industries, while also considering matters of nationality, gender and genre. Anyone interested in music and the people who make it will be interested in this history. This critical account of the Musicians' Union from 1893-2013 explores the organisation's development as a set of responses to technological, industrial and socio-political changes