My name is Sarah Sayeed and I am a musician, composer, and songwriter. I started my career working with jazz and soul bands, and found my feet as an artist by performing my material at open mic nights. I loved improvising with musicians on stage and finding my unique voice as an artist.
I have gone on to perform nationally and internationally at venues including Cargo, Sydney Festival, and the Southbank Centre. As my career progressed, I moved into more composing and sound design, creating scores and designs for live musicians, theatre shows and radio.
This has included Composer and Musical Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company and composer for Love Across the Ages for BBC Radio.
The importance of having union representation
Eight years ago, I became a mother which was a life changing experience, requiring me to renavigate every aspect of my personal and professional life.
From this point onwards, it became hugely important to me that I was able to work flexibly and that employers understood and were supportive of that.
I appreciated very early on in my professional work how important it would be to have union representation protecting my overall interests as an artist.
Like many other artists, I initially signed up enthusiastically to the MU because I needed the Public Liability Insurance which the Union membership offers! But the Union offers so much more than that, as I was to find out over the years through various projects and settlements I was offered.
Musician, composer and songwriter Sarah Sayeed in a studio. Image credit: Robert Downes.
The MU staff are brilliant at meeting artists where they are in their journey
On one occasion, I had received a music buyout agreement for a theatre show which I had composed the music for, and was now being remounted. The remount was to be filmed for a TV version of the theatre production, making the buyout a little more complicated.
I was unsure whether I was getting a fair deal or not, so I approached the MU to look over the details. They were certainly able to offer some sound legal advice and perspective.
This put me in a stronger position to negotiate further with the producing team and work towards a fair and suitable outcome!
The MU staff are brilliant at meeting artists where they are in their journey and are on the side of musicians every time. I think that having union support takes a huge burden off our shoulders, allowing us to get perspective on the challenges we face.
As a British South Asian female artist, I have been acutely aware of my own place in the industry
Through the last few years, I have also been involved in a few other roles at the MU, most notably on the East and Southeast England Regional Committee whilst I lived in Brighton.
I am now London-based and more recently have joined the Members' Assembly, which comprises members across the Union and focuses on key issues or campaigns.
I’ve also been on the Music Writers’ Section Committee for one year and have been a delegate to the MU’s Delegate Conference.
I joined the Members' Assembly for several reasons. As a British South Asian female artist, I have been acutely aware of my own place in the industry and the challenges I have faced, whether it be at a board level or say, in a casual encounter where my race has clearly created some level of bias or prejudice. Or just perhaps where I have simply felt uncomfortable or somehow 'othered'.
A tangible platform for me to have my voice heard in a meaningful way
Global Majority communities face difficult obstacles in the industry and to be represented by a union like the MU, can give us the legitimacy we often need and deserve.
Members' Assembly is a new way to represent voices across the Union and ensure issues and campaigns encapsulate a wider range of perspectives, from not only race but through to disability and gender amongst others.
I have been an active voice throughout my career, standing up for inequality and having a passion for young people’s creativity and expression and the voices of women and mothers in music. The Members' Assembly is a tangible platform for me to have my voice heard in a meaningful way.
Your personal and lived experiences as a musician will always be appreciated
I am passionate about upcoming young talent in the music industry and supporting the Union to stay relevant and in touch with the changing landscape for artists.
I sincerely hope the Members' Assembly will be a platform for internal change that can be lobbied and advocated externally in the music world, and for the wider systemic change we all seek.
I would encourage those who are curious to join the Union and consider joining their Regional Committee.
Your personal and lived experiences as a musician will always be appreciated, and the more Global Majority and differing groups that get involved in union life, the more representative and effective the Union will be.