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    Synthesisers: Friend or Foe? The British Musicians' Union and Technology

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    John Williamson
    The Musicians' Union formed in 1893 to protect musicians from unscrupulous employers and amateurs. Throughout the 20th century, the Union resisted new technologies like multi-track recording, synthesizers, and drum machines that threatened musicians' live employment. Three major threats were broadcasting/radio in the 1920s, "talkies" in the 1930s which eliminated orchestras from films causing membership to drop from 20,000 to 6,740, and the recording industry. While the Union initially viewed broadcasting as a way to increase employment, technological innovations continually disrupted musicians' livelihoods.

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    Synthesisers: Friend or Foe? The British Musicians' Union and Technology

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    John Williamson
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    The Musicians' Union formed in 1893 to protect musicians from unscrupulous employers and amateurs. Throughout the 20th century, the Union resisted new technologies like multi-track recording, synthesizers, and drum machines that threatened musicians' live employment. Three major threats were broadcasting/radio in the 1920s, "talkies" in the 1930s which eliminated orchestras from films causing membership to drop from 20,000 to 6,740, and the recording industry. While the Union initially viewed broadcasting as a way to increase employment, technological innovations continually disrupted musicians' livelihoods.

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    presentation in Lille, 2013

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    Lille

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    The Musicians' Union formed in 1893 to protect musicians from unscrupulous employers and amateurs. Throughout the 20th century, the Union resisted new technologies like multi-track recording, synthesizers, and drum machines that threatened musicians' live employment. Three major threats were broadcasting/radio in the 1920s, "talkies" in the 1930s which eliminated orchestras from films causing membership to drop from 20,000 to 6,740, and the recording industry. While the Union initially viewed broadcasting as a way to increase employment, technological innovations continually disrupted musicians' livelihoods.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    7 views11 pages

    Synthesisers: Friend or Foe? The British Musicians' Union and Technology

    Uploaded by

    John Williamson
    The Musicians' Union formed in 1893 to protect musicians from unscrupulous employers and amateurs. Throughout the 20th century, the Union resisted new technologies like multi-track recording, synthesizers, and drum machines that threatened musicians' live employment. Three major threats were broadcasting/radio in the 1920s, "talkies" in the 1930s which eliminated orchestras from films causing membership to drop from 20,000 to 6,740, and the recording industry. While the Union initially viewed broadcasting as a way to increase employment, technological innovations continually disrupted musicians' livelihoods.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 11

    Synthesisers: Friend or Foe?

    The British Musicians Union and


    technology

    John Williamson
    This Is The Modern World. Pour une histoire sociale du rock
    13 June 2013

    NME

    The Musicians Union


    Formed in 1893 as Amalgamated Musicians

    Union, merger in 1921 to become Musicians


    Union
    Between 30-40 000 members for the last fifty
    years
    Currently 31 482 members; Income around 8m
    per year; operating surplus (2011) = 1.2m
    JB Williams: a protecting Union: one that will
    protect us from amateurs; protect us from
    unscrupulous employers and protect us from
    ourselves

    Technological Disruption . . .
    Street: as each innovation appears to

    threaten jobs, the MU has resisted each one in


    turn, first opposing multi-track recording, then
    mellotrons and finally synthesisers and drum
    machines (1986: 147)
    3 major threats to live music employment
    during twentieth century:
    Broadcasting / Radio
    The Talkies end of silent films accompanied by

    orchestras
    The recording industry

    Technological Disruption /
    Broadcasting
    BBC (British Broadcasting Company /

    Corporation) formed in 1923


    Opposed by theatre, concert and Music Hall owners
    MU: our policy shall be one of regulating terms. . an

    extra fee to be negotiated with the management on the


    lines of the difference between once and twice nightly
    terms
    1925: broadcasting had not reduced employment of

    entertainers but, on the contrary, has increased it. It


    should not be discouraged but controlled.

    Technological Disruption / The


    Talkies
    Number of musicians working in cinemas

    increased to 16000 by 1928 before advent of


    films with sound
    Union membership dropped from 20000 in 1929
    to 6740 in 1936 mass unemployment among
    former cinema musicians
    Farmer: big cinema combines, controlled by
    the film manufacturers, would soon be masters
    of the situation.

    Technological Disruption / The


    Talkies
    Number of musicians working in cinemas

    increased to 16000 by 1928 before advent of


    films with sound
    Union membership dropped from 20000 in 1929
    to 6740 in 1936 mass unemployment among
    former cinema musicians
    Farmer: big cinema combines, controlled by
    the film manufacturers, would soon be masters
    of the situation.

    Technological Disruption / The


    Talkies
    Number of musicians working in cinemas

    increased to 16000 by 1928 before advent of


    films with sound
    Union membership dropped from 20000 in 1929
    to 6740 in 1936 mass unemployment among
    former cinema musicians
    Farmer: big cinema combines, controlled by
    the film manufacturers, would soon be masters
    of the situation.

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