Players' Work Time : A History of the British Musicians' Union, 1893-2013.

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.

The changing MU -- Commercial radio broadcasting -- Annan's Report -- A strike at the BBC -- The return of the PRT -- Trade union reform and a Commission -- Conclusion -- 8 Disharmony: 1991-2002 -- A report's fallout -- Orchestral strife -- Restructuring -- Electoral problems -- Conclusion -- 9 Beginning again: the MU in the twenty-first century -- Reorganising -- Campaigning: live music and copyright -- Equalities -- The modern(ised) MU -- Conclusion -- Appendix: list of interviews -- References -- Index.

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.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.