'Work Not Play': Musicians' Union's campaign for fair pay

UK's Musicians' Union is launching "Work Not Play", a campaign to promote fair pay for musicians. "We are concerned at a growing trend of professional musicians not being paid for their work", says MU general secretary John Smith. "In this era of illegal downloading, live revenue is incredibly important and musicians rely on it to be able to survive".

MU put online a website for the campaign, where musicians tell anecdotes of not being paid or being asked to play for free, while supporters are encouraged to share their comments on Twitter using the #WorkNotPlayMU tag.

"It is difficult enough to earn a decent living as a professional musician these days, and, headline artists aside, it is not a highly paid profession", commented Smith. "We’re looking to challenge the idea that musicians should be happy to work for free, and we’re delighted that so many musicians and music fans are joining up to this campaign".