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Heart Unions Week 2025

Explore some of the Union’s highlights from the last 12 months as part of Heart Unions week.

Published: 14 February 2025 | 1:02 PM Updated: 17 February 2025 | 12:45 PM
A silhouette of a man speaking into a megaphone as part of a trade union protest.
HeartUnions Week 2025 takes place from Monday 10 February - Sunday 16 February. Image credit: Shutterstock.

Heart Unions week is a celebration of trade unions, what they do for members in workplaces across the UK, and why everyone should join their union.

Did you know the MU now has over 35,000 members? It’s a milestone the union reached in 2024 and is one of many achievements to be proud of. Here we explore more of the Union’s highlights over the last 12 months...

Money recovered for members 

Remember, contact the MU straight away via your regional office if you're a musician still waiting to get paid.

Union benefits and services

Our role is to make musicians’ lives better every day, and a big part of this is through the benefits and services we provide to members.

New benefits in the last 12 months include discounted hotel rooms in London for MU members with Imperial Hotels, and a renewal of our partnership with Viva La Visa, which gives guidance on visas, work permits and travel documentation for touring abroad. 

 

With World Hearing Day coming up on 3 March, now may be a good time to consider protecting your hearing with our Hearing Health Scheme, and exploring all the Union’s health, safety and wellbeing resources for members.

Building union power at WNO  

MU members in the Welsh National Opera (WNO) orchestra are taking industrial action over proposed cuts.

The musicians are calling on management, Arts Council of Wales and Arts Council England to keep WNO as a full-time company with a full time orchestra and secure the company’s future, including touring.

 

Their campaign has attracted widespread support from high profile musicians and artists, and been featured in The Times, BBC News and Wales Online.

MU helps achieve tax relief for theatres and orchestras 

In March, after sustained lobbying from the MU, UK Music and other unions, the Government announced a permanent increase in the rate of tax relief for orchestras and theatres. 

This increase is already giving greater certainty to organisations at a time when funding is precarious, and the costs of touring have skyrocketed. The MU hopes this will lead to greater opportunities, more secure work and ultimately better pay for our members.  

We’re also calling on the Treasury to extend this tax relief to choirs to protect the UK’s vibrant choral sector in their 2025 Spending Review. Add your voice to the call - email your MP using our template letter.

Together we can fix streaming  

Last spring saw major advance in the long-running Fix Streaming campaign with the start of the cross-industry Creator Remuneration Group meetings. These bring together government, record labels and organisations representing music makers, including the MU. 

The group is one of the commitments made by the Government in response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee inquiry into music streaming – won by the MU’s campaigning work with The Ivors Academy and alongside MU member Tom Gray’s Broken Record movement. 

No agreement has yet been reached between record labels and creator and performer representatives, but we are hopeful that the Government will step in with legislation if there is no movement from labels. 

Many musicians still earn next to nothing from the streaming of their work and the MU will not rest until this is rectified.

 

Explore how music streaming royalties are split – and why some musicians receive nothing at all – in our explainer by MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl.

You can now listen to the audio version of Amplify 2024, the Musicians’ Union annual journal

In case you missed it, we have moved from a quarterly magazine to a thicker annual publication, featuring big stories and the work of the Union and our activists.

Copies were sent to members at the end of last year, and digital, accessible and audio versions are now all available online too.

Get MU membership today

From gig players to part-time teachers and professional instrumentalists, MU members can access specialist insurance for musicians. This includes Public Liability, Instrument and Equipment Insurance, Accident Insurance, Tax Investigation Insurance, and Professional Indemnity Insurance for music teachers.

Explore our member services

  • Get public liability insurance for musicians
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  • Connect, network, and get to know the community of musicians

Learn about all membership benefits

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