The new contracts, one for studio recordings and the other for live recordings, consolidate three old contracts and it is hoped that they will make things easier for labels that hire MU musicians. The contract allows for a base rate and additional fees and gives labels a broader set of musicians` agreements in advance. 3. Copies of session agreements concluded should be committed to session.agreements@theMU.org session musicians, drummers, guitarists and other recording artists, either directly by a production company, or by a record label, or more frequently engaged through a fixer (also known as a contractor) who has signed an agreement with the Musicians` Union. MU General Secretary John Smith confirmed that an agreement had been reached and told CMU: “We recognise the difficulties faced by the recording industry in recent years. This agreement is a new way of working, and we hope it will create more jobs in this valuable sector and help present British musicians as one of the best in the world. The Commission orders members not to accept meeting obligations for recording and broadcasting, with the exception of companies and organisations with which MU has concluded collective agreements, unless they have been referred to our contract advisory service. This is in your own interest and is intended to prevent a breach of your obligations in accordance with Rule Xl.3. If contracts are not concluded directly with these undertakings, they should only be accepted through authorised contractors, i.e. contractors/fixators who have concluded an agreement with MU.

If you need further information about the meeting work and the fixer, please contact Sam Jordan on 020 7840 5559 or sam.jordan@theMU.org If you give your consent, you indicate that your permission will only be granted subject to a written agreement on the rights and future use of the recording in question. You can use the M6 Live pre-registration contract. If you knowingly register and do not clearly specify your position at this stage, it may be difficult for MU to establish your rights a posteriori, especially if you later indicate that you were filmed against your will. The BPI record label distribution organization and the musicians` union have agreed on new simplified contracts for session musicians, which offer both commercial federations better remuneration under both conditions and provide labels with the increased flexibility they need in the ever-changing recording industry. Geoff Taylor, head of BPI, added: “Collaboration between musicians and record companies is at the heart of the tape store. The new agreement will increase payments to British musicians in exchange for more flexible rights for UK labels, which will make it easier for recordings to be marketed in the digital environment. This will make the UK music industry more competitive and prosperous and ensure our musicians have more work to do in the UK. Session musicians are musicians employed to record music for media projects such as movies, television, advertising, video games and albums and who are paid for by the session. MU has collective agreements with the BBC, ITV, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IAP) and independent film and television producers who form the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (PACT).