Performance Rights

 We are #BehindEveryMusician

– theMU

What is the MU?– Musicians Union.

Who do they deal with? Performers – live and on record.

The Musician’s Union is a trade union dealing with issues such as legal support, pay and working conditions and tackling discrimination within the music industry. Common problems for musicians are contractual issues, partnership and relationship disputes with band members and managers, among other issues such as copyright disputes and nonpayment for performances. The MU services are there for legal assistance, free contract service, career advice. They also offer other services such as public liability insurance.

Many musicians rely on multiple income streams such as merchandise, digital and physical sales and endorsements through companies such as MasterCard, in order to profit. 

The Musicians Union also offer recommended rates for session musicians playing for live shows, recording sessions and teaching. The standard rate of the MU is £18 a month or £20 a year for students.  

APPROPRIATE RATES- 

Teaching 

 £34 p/h 

Theatres, Stadiums, Festivals  

Under 200 capacity: £146.00 

Over 200 capacity: £162.500 

West End: £1,027.00 per week  

Touring Show: £616.69 

Recording sessions, a 3-hour session 

 £130 for audio 

3-hour film/tv session: £243-263 

Radio £81 for 30 minutes 

These rates differ when playing for featured artists depending on the capacity of the venue- 

Tier 2 to 5 venues (300-5000+) 

£200.00 to £350.00 + 

As a singer-songwriter the MU is important to join as there’s a possibility that I will be performing live and it is important to be paid right for these performances. The worst-case scenario of a person not signed up to the MU is that they can be taken advantage of easily and not payed for performances they should receive money for. Labels and publishers now regularly look for well-developed artists. You must reach a certain level on your own and the internet has made self-releasing material easier- as the internet has made it possible to be truly independent, some may never involve a label and publisher at all- or enter developmental relationships with managers, producers and investors but for those that do contracts are important.  

Contracts can include- 

Hospitality rider- food, drink etc. 

Other rider- equipment needed etc.  

Standard management deal is 20% 

Merch sales in venue 20-25% 

BUYON – paying to be a support band for a headliner  

It is important to always have written a backlog of all agreements made. 

The MU deals heavily with performances rights such as the fact you cannot be recorded or share performances without permission, contracts should be written up or downloaded from the MU website in order to lay out the regulations needed for visual or sound recording of any and all performances. Bands should also draw up agreements to decide on areas such as-  

Who owns copyright? 

The share of profit and loss 

Decisions like hiring and firing?

Who owns the name of the group? 

Who does what within the band or partnership? 

This needs to be discussed as if situations change, things must be set in place to avoid conflict or to ease it when members decide to depart. It is important to remember that those within a band are each liable for all group debt and that any member is allowed to leave or can be fired; all equipment also belongs to all group members – and can be liquidated in order to pay off a member for their share in the case of departure -and the band name is an asset.  

CASE STUDY- An example of the MU and how it protects the rights of musicians is the 2012 London Olympics. They hired dancers, singers, gardeners and caterers among others to help and perform at the opening ceremony but the organizing committee LOCOG, agreed to pay everyone for their work except the musicians. They claimed this was because of an across the board policy, so they did not need to pay them. Instead they claimed it would be excellent exposure playing for the games crowd, so payment wasn’t necessary.  The musicians that were MU members complained of this and the MU took action as what LOCOG was doing was unfair. The MU and the musicians involved won the case and were payed for their services.