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
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