Anybody in the Musicians Union?

[BassAndReeds]

i'm not even sure i understand your statement(s), your POV. "they" probably don't care one way or the other...

Yea. We're not on the same page. Probably cause I'm in a phone.

But you (and anyone else) won't get called by being in the union. You need to know someone that will call you for the gig.

Simplest way I see it: The gig defines if you need to be in the union. But people call you for the gig, not the union.

 

[Two-Spirit]

Down here it Texas we have this guy who call himself the Boss. He gets to decide who can take up an instrument and who can gig. He's a shapeshifter no less.

 

[JRA]

But people call you for the gig, not the union.

the union either prepared the contract and/or put me in touch with the "purchaser" many times. so if i understand you correctly = you are mistaken. the union did, in fact, call me with gig opportunities. bandleaders are (were) important to the musician's union and vice versa.

 

[DWBass]

Musicians Union still around? I was briefly in that union back in the 80's when I was in NY.

 

[BassAndReeds]

the union either prepared the contract and/or put me in touch with the "purchaser" many times. so if i understand you correctly = you are mistaken. the union did, in fact, call me with gig opportunities. bandleaders are (were) important to the musician's union and vice versa.

Fair enough. Then I would agree with you that unions are different in locations.

 

[DavC]

yes ... for a while back in the 70's-early 80's ...

like most Unions i was in ... the thing they're best at is taking your money ..!

 

[Slevage]

In the " old days", many musicians justified joining the local because you got a small life insurance policy. I think that benefit became cost prohibitive.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

I've been in it forever. Public liability insurance alone makes it worth it.

 

[b_carville]

I was for about 6 years in the mid 70's.
Was doing a lot of club work in New Jersey when they had an 18 year old drinking age. You HAD to be in the union. The union rep would come to check cards & get their percentage from the club. Half the time the clubs just sent it to them direct.My hometown local was a pain in the ass. They wanted to see contracts 2 weeks ahead of time & would want a slice of your gig along with whatever MU local in the town or state of your gig would take. I wound up using a girlfriend's address in a different county to join that local so I wouldn't have to pay twice.It was about 15-20%between both of them! Not to mention the booking agency taking 15%
Seems like they disappeared in the 80's.I was working a lot & doing TV/Radio houseband work & was never approached by anyone from the MU. Seemed like the only musicians who were union were the ones who had major label deals or doing pitband/musical work. Even in Atlantic City.
What do you call a guy who's sure that the big bands(Glen Miller,Tommy Dorsey) are coming back?
A Musician's Union Offical.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Wondered what being with the Union was like these days.

No, in NC most of the local venues from Greensboro to Fayetteville to the coast won't even book you if you are. I've literally been asked if we were when talking to promoters and venues to setup shows that's how I know they won't book them.

 

[Josh Kneisel]

Nope.

 

[markjazzbassist]

I was when I played professionally because we did TV work and once you do a big one of those you're in automatically.

If you are classical, studio, tv work, etc they are amazing. They have a great pension system and they have recently released a system to help get songwriters their royalties from internet plays (didn't exist before this).

The only thing the union cared about was the tv stuff as far as getting a cut, never cared about my sessions and touring at all. Granted I'm not Pino, maybe they hound him if he does non union work.

Only worth it if you do those gigs sadly.

 

[gitfiddl]

I'm not anymore, but I was in the 1980's (Local 444, Jacksonville, FL) The benefits for me back them were enormous. I joined my senior year in high school. I think I worked every weekend after football season, playing electric and upright bass, tuba, and euphonium in all sorts of ensembles. You want a grueling gig? Try a Saturday (3 shows) with the now defunct Ringling Brothers Circus! Euphonium was bad enough; I really felt sorry for the trumpet players. But I digress.

Back then, my student dues were $45/yr. I think the local scale for a 2hr gig was $65 for a sideman/pit member. The AFM offered health and life insurance plans, rental/replacement coverage if your gear was damaged or stolen, travel discounts, etc. Back then, we had a thriving local theater scene, several really good "big bands", and a load of good jazz combos. I worked my butt off for several years thanks to the union. Only got one relatively steady gig out of it (bassist/tubist with the local Shriner's big band), but there were several weeks where I'd spend an hour in a studio recording a track for a commercial or something on a weeknight, filled in at one dinner theater doing "Oliver" on Friday night, and do a matinee and evening show of "Oklahoma" at another theater that Saturday. And trust me, I was making more at scale or usually above (and eating better) than my rock and roll peers playing the bar scene. Back then there was always the issue of union versus non-union gigs for members, but if you were a member in good standing and asked, the local would usually allow you to play a non-union gig or venue if you went through the right process.

Of late, I'm strongly considering joining again. I've found out that a lot of my fellow Dad Bandistas are members.

 

[Shishka Bob]

Being a dedicated union musician, I was was attending a Musician's Union convention in Las Vegas and, as you would expect, I decided to check out the local brothels nearby. When I got to the first one, I asked the Madam, "Is this a union house?" "No," she replied, "I'm sorry, it isn't."
"Well, if I pay you $100.00, what cut do the girls get?" "The house gets $80.00 and the girls get $20.00."
Offended at such unfair dealings, I stomped off down the street in search of a more equitable, hopefully unionized, shop. My search continued until finally I reached a brothel where the Madam responded, "Why, yes sir, this IS a Union House."
So I asked, "And if I pay you $100.00, what cut do the girls get?" "The girls get $80.00 and the house gets $20." That's more like it!" I said, so I handed the Madam $100.00, looked around the room and pointed to a stunningly attractive blonde. "I'd like her for the night." "I'm sure you would, sir," said the Madam, then gesturing to an 85 year old woman in the corner, "but Ethel here has seniority."

 

[TKnights]

I am a supporter of unions . But the Musicians Union has always seemed to be a waste . Very few benefits ,if any at all , for the dues .

 

[Blissful_Lad]

I am a supporter of unions . But the Musicians Union has always seemed to be a waste . Very few benefits ,if any at all , for the dues .

Local 47 has a lovely new Invalid Link Removed. Someone's makin' $$$ and payin' dues (big ones).

 

[Deak]

I was in the Pressman's Union for a while, but they didn't get me any gigs.

Did you get a gold plated Em space? Or were you not allowed to touch a California Case?

 

[Deak]

I was a member in the 70's misplaced my card and a rep showed up before a gig. I made myself scarce. Damn I was nervous.

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

The Musicians Union is just one more tool to network. It can be helpful when you're new in town or have been out of circulation for a while.
I've had steady and pickup/sub work from them.
But there's probably a hundred rules that I don't follow.

 

[trevcda]

In my experience, the Musicians Union is completely toothless in all but the largest cities. Out on the road, when I need the assistance they'd promised would be available when I joined, I got a plethora of excuses why they couldn't help me. Back at home, the only work I got from them was Trust Fund jobs for less than scale at prisons and mental institutions. I think they had a foot hold in one major room in the area, but that had a really good permanent house band, so if you were lucky, you might end up with the Sunday/Monday night scrap gigs. Reasonable insurance rates was the only reason to have joined and that doesn't really pencil out any more.