Musicians Union, BASCA, PCAM, etc - worthwhile?

[tedmanzie]

As a self employed producer/writer for commercial music, I could feasibly join all these: [b]Musicians Union[/b], [b]BASCA[/b] (British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, Authors), [b]PCAM[/b] (The Society for Producers and Composers of Applied Music), and I expect there are more?

I don't actually belong to any of them right now (I belong to PRS and MCPS for royalty collection purposes). but I've been wondering if these societies have any major benefits? The fees aren't huge, but taken together it's quite substantial as an ongoing yearly expense - MU - £183, BASCA - £165, PCAM - £150.

It's not easy to tell the benefits by reading the websites. What do you think? Do you find them useful? Is the MU better for gigging musicians? Any others you would recommend?

Cheers

Edited November 3, 2013 by tedmanzie

[fretmeister]

Don't know about them, but I'm in Equity and they are great. Tax advice and workshops, meet ups, and public liability insurance included in the membership.

When I got separate quotes for insurance it was dearer than the Equity fee, without any membership benefits.

[ambient]

I'm in the mu, you get insurance as part of the package which is good, and free advice etc.

I'm a student though, so it's only £20 for me, I'm not sure that I'd join if I had to pay the full price.

[skej21]

As a full member of the MU I think it's completely worth the money. The legal cover, pre-written performance contracts (legally sound and written by the MU lawyers), instrument insurance and the security of pre-agreed working rates (for tuition, performances and recordings) help to protect my income and my gear.

Plus, £183 looks like a lot of cash on paper but it's not much across an entire year... Also, a couple of years back my band had two wedding gigs unfairly cancelled a few hours before we were due to set up (both had 'overspent' and thought cancelling the band would save them some cash!) and thanks to the MU contracts we had signed with the clients, they ended up paying us in full with little hassle and the comfort of knowing we had quality legal cover if needed. Those two gigs covered the cost of the annual MU fee alone, so totally worth it IMO!