Play a part in something else
Hot gossip from the local music scene
Being part of a team that will look out for you is always going to be a big help whatever you do.
As a musician it’s great being part of an organisation which protects our interests and champions our issues.
Being a musician is, of course, mostly about music but it’s important to be something else, an informed musician who is aware of rights and responsibilities as a performer and professional.
The world can be a murky place and it’s ever increasing in complexity where technology, music and money meet. Being aware of complexities is clever. It’s important to know how to do the task but it’s just as if not more important to understand what lies behind it and being a musician is a complex thing. If you want to perform professionally it pays to act like one. Established in 1893 the Musicians Union currently has around 30,000 members. From composers to orchestral players to people in all sorts of bands, the Musicians Union is there to assist.
Yes, there is a fee to join but it really is worth it for the insurance, liability cover and legal advice alone. For students there’s a £ 20 membership for the year and £ 210 for non- students for a year. Recently the Musicians Union have been working on a number of high- profile causes including looking at ways in which Brexit may affect the rights and working conditions of musicians working both in the UK and across the EU.
The MU’s Fair Play Venues Scheme is a database of venues around the UK which have signed up to the initiative which values the rights of musicians and makes sure that they are compensated for their work. I think there’s a lot of value in that as we should be doing more to raise awareness that fairness should be our ultimate goal. By encouraging venues to agree to pay musicians fairly I think we will see a more prosperous live music scene for all and that can only be a good thing.
If you’ve ever known the pain of losing an instrument or having it nicked then you’ll know it’s a real sair yin. The Musicians Union are very good at helping members to discover and recover missing instruments through their networks and have a good success rate at this. So lots to think about with this but genuinely a very simple choice to make to improve your life as a musician, go for it!
There’s an internship opportunity going for persons aged 16- 24 with the Scottish Music Industry Association based in Glasgow.
The internship is for a Member Services Assistant role with the organisation which was founded to develop and promote the Scottish music industry, a misnomer some might think but there are indeed jobs, opportunities and success stories to be found across Scotland if you look for them.
The internship will be based in the SMIA’s Glasgow office. Occasional travel to events will be required and associated transport, accommodation and subsistence expenses will be covered. To apply email a CV and cover letter to info@ smia. org. uk. The deadline is 5pm on Monday, September 11. Until next week, @ littlefire