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What are Music Industry Advisory Boards?

The MU's Music Sectors act as focus groups for musicians working in areas such as music teaching, recording, composing, orchestras, theatre and live performance. Music Industry Advisory Boards are elected from the membership of each Sector to oversee policy in that area, representing the views of the wider Sector membership. They are vital to informing our work and helping to shape our policy.

Each Advisory Board meets to discuss musicians’ issues and make recommendations to the MU Executive Committee (EC). Sometimes, Advisory Boards may also choose to elect sub-committees to deal with individual types of employment within the Sector.

Standing for Advisory Board Membership

The nomination process for members wishing to stand for election to an MU Advisory Board takes place every two years. Successful candidates will sit on their chosen Board for a two-year term from April.

Joining an MU Advisory Board is an opportunity for you to get involved in shaping the Union’s policy on issues that matter to you. Being on an MU Advisory Board will:

  • Give you experience of the Union’s policy and decision-making processes
  • Develop you as an activist
  • Enable you to create meaningful change that helps you and others
  • Connect you with other members and Union staff
  • Provide opportunities to network with the wider music industry and decision-makers

How are Advisory Boards formed?

Each Music Industry Advisory Board is formed by democratically elected MU members. Advisory Boards oversee policy in the following industrial areas:

There is a maximum of 20 seats on each Advisory Board. If there are more applications than available seats, a ballot of relevant sector members takes place to establish the 20 successful candidates. Successful candidates have a place on their chosen Board for the next two years.

Qualification

To qualify for an Music Industry Advisory Board seat, you must be:

  • Working, paid or unpaid, in the relevant area of the industry. For example, if you would like to join the Music Writers Advisory Board, then you need to have worked as a composer, lyricist, copyist, arranger or in another role in music writing
  • A member of the relevant MU Sector yourself. For example, if you would like to join the Education Advisory Board, you will need to be a member of the MU Education Sector. Candidates can check and update Sector memberships through their My MU online account
  • Nominated by a fellow member of the relevant MU Music Industry Sector.

Members interested in applying should read the following information.

What happens after nominations?

 Once the nomination deadline has passed, the qualifying applications for each Board are counted.

  • If there are 20 or fewer qualifying applications for a Board, then all qualifying applicants are automatically elected to the Advisory Board and are notified accordingly.
  • If there are more than 20 qualifying applications for a Board, there is a ballot. This means an election will be held to select the 20 successful applicants.

Commitment

Members of all Music Industry Advisory Boards are elected for a two-year term.

Board members are expected to attend three to four meetings each year, some of which will be held online and others in person.

Members are not expected to devote excessive amounts of time to Boards, but attendance at meetings and input on specific issues is much appreciated and useful.

The MU makes every effort to ensure that our Advisory Board meetings are accessible to all members. If you have any questions about access requirements, please contact equalites@themu.org

Fees and expenses

When a member attends an Advisory Board meeting, they can claim a meeting allowance.

If a member loses earnings as a consequence of attending an Advisory Board meeting and needs reimbursement, they can claim ONE of the options below:

  • A meeting allowance
  • A claim for loss of earnings (which needs to be evidenced).

An Advisory Board member can only claim loss of earnings OR a meeting allowance, but not both.

In addition, where a member is required to attend a meeting in person, reasonable expenses (for example, travel expenses) will be covered.

Reserved Seats Policy

A reserved seats policy is in place for Advisory Boards. Reserved seats are common practice within the trade union movement to ensure fair representation and to make unions more effective when tackling issues. It is hoped that increased diversity on our Advisory Boards will ensure they are fully representative, shift the MU’s thinking and offer a range of new perspectives, making the MU a more inclusive trade union.

In the case that an election is required a reserved seats policy will be applied as follows:

  • 7 seats for Women members
  • 2 seats for members from the Global Majority
  • 2 seats for Disabled members
  • 1 seat for LGBTQ+ members
  • 8 general seats

When the results of a ballot are received, applicants for each Advisory Board are placed in reserved seats as appropriate. For example, the 7 highest polling women candidates receive the 7 seats reserved for women. Any other candidates who are women are placed in the pool for the 8 general seats, unless they also qualify for another of the reserved seat categories. Once the seats have been filled with the highest polling candidates in each reserved category, the 8 highest polling applicants remaining are placed in the 8 general seats.

If there are fewer applicants than reserved seats in a category, the remaining unfilled seats are added to the general seats total.

If you have any questions or would like any further information, please email sections@theMU.org

The MU Members’ Assembly brings together members from every committee, advisory board and network in the Union to explore the big issues affecting musicians from diverse perspectives.