Work that ol’ Mojo...

FREELANCE music writers working for Q and Mojo magazines will be submitting a claim for improved rates next year about the time you read this.

The 140-strong group proved the benefits of forming a network when, earlier this year, they negotiated the first increase in writers' rates at the two magazines for several years. The unusual feature of the negotiation and agreement was that the two magazines are published by a division of EMAP, called Performance, which doesn't recognise the NUJ.

However, when the writers all signed their names to a letter to management they got a positive response. Although the timing proved unfortunate because the recession began - and September 11 happened - while the negotiations were going on, some useful headway was made.

While there were small increases in review rates, from April 2002 the features rate increased from £180 per thousand to two tiers, £250 or £225 according to factors such as amount of research, number of interviews and the time involved. The management also agreed to discussions on the rates from then on, constructively suggesting that this should begin in the autumn when their internal budgeting process started so that any changes could be built into their planning for the following financial year.

© 2002 Phil Sutcliffe