Thinking About Musicians as Workers. Notes on 123 years of the British Musicians’ Union

Abstract

This article emerges from a four year research project on the history of the British Musicians’ Union (MU – www.muhistory.com) and falls in to four parts. The first section briefly details the history of the MU, while the second outlines the research project. The third section describes the model used throughout the work – that of musicians as workers, while the final section looks at some of the key issues which arise during the Union’s history. A concluding section attempts to bring things together.