Okay following the many debates regarding D.J's and the Musicians union and will they or wont they accept us for membership, I can confirm that they DO!.

Following advice given from Peteee on other thread, I stopped sending them emails, and simply filled in their membership form, clearly stating at every opportunity that I was a D.J and NOT a musician in the conventional sense. In other words no misleading and no twisting the rules! .

Expecting a phone call or some refusal of membership, a few days wait brought the cheery postman carrying a large envelope. It was my acceptance notification pending the completion of a direct debit mandate. According to the paperwork, receipt of my DD forms by them immediately makes me a member of the MU.

So all for around £78 - £200 a Year you can get:-

Upto £10m Public Liability Cover
Legal and contract advice including dealing with agencies
Career Advice
Contract Advice and Forms
A free Diary (Useful at this time of year)
The knowledge of being in a union
Help with debt recovery from non paying clients


My own conclusion is that like any large organisation, they have problems in answering emailed enquiries, but DO actively accept membership from Mobile D.J's.

Their fees are on a tiered scale depending on how much you earn from your D.J'ing activities, however having just been quoted £145 for £5m PLI insurance from another company it is worth it for the £10m PLI cover, even before considering the other benefits.

They also accept Younger Members,and Students under 21 and earning less than £7500 a year will only pay £33 - £36 for a years membership!.

So my advice?

Stop dreaming and waiting for a dedicated DJ's union to be formed and bite the bullet and apply to the MU for membership!. Don't bother sending emails, just go straight to their registration form and apply. The D.D form takes around 4 days to arrive and then you are a confirmed member within 2 weeks of sending the documents back.

It's all quite hassle free and well worth it.

The Musicians Union Website can be found HERE

Glad to see theres a discount for students in full time education. Helps me alot only £36 not bad considering what cover i should be getting. Well worth it if you ask me!

And Wait for it!!!!!!!

Mr Mo will be along soon to tell us he's apply ing for the under 21 section

Yea the member rates will be simplified in the new year
With sufficient DJ members in the MU it is possible to have a sub membership represented within the MU like the jazz group or whatever.
I do think Mikee should consider his organisation affilating themselves and form the bones of the DJ sub group to represent DJ's interests within the MU.
Then we might get more of a voice...
Mu is definately worth a look if you are after PL Ins but I think it could offer alot more
With an active DJ section (I think you would need min 500 members) to start such a section.
Happy Humbug everyone
xxxxx

I would be interested in any new way of getting PLI and PAT when mine lapse.

I would have to read the small print on the MU forms very carefully though. Whilst some aspects are similar between a DJ and a musician, many aspects are not. I would hate to be the first MU DJ to discover their claim was declared void due to some (not so)crazy wording...

Besides, Id hate to have to keeping re~reading the word "instrument" for "gear" whilst reading every monthly newsletter.

Its a big U turn for MU, considering their old slogan was so boldly anti~DJ..."MU says Keep Music Live"

Are they really prepared to accept us, or just our money? Is this time of the year so busy for them that applications are simply not being vetted correctly?

Um, velly interesting.

Yep the MU do accept DJ's, on the principle that you are a "mixing" jock (and I use the word "mixing" advisedly). The MU accept DJ's that create new music, thus making them musians.

And if you don't mind, i'll copy this thread and send it to my best buddy, the branch secretary for Surrey & NE Hants.

And don't forget they like you to turn up for the jam sessions, I do and they are fantastic.