The Musicians’ Union (MU) is celebrating the court victory of cellist Adrian Bradbury, who successfully sued the Lowry in Manchester under the Trades Descriptions Act, for using a pre-recorded backing tape instead of live music in its Christmas production of the Wizard of Oz. Bradbury claimed that posters for the show, which described it as a musical, were misleading. Under the slogan ‘Keep Music Live’, the MU has been campaigning against the use of recorded music as a substitute for live musicians for over forty years, and has now issued a challenge to all theatres, saying that it will encourage MU members and members of the public to take similar legal action for any productions which use recorded music to replace live music. It is also encouraging them to sign its online petition calling for honesty in the use of recorded music. John Smith, MU General Secretary, describing the practice of using recorded music to replace musicians in musical theatre productions, said that it “not only threatens the livelihoods of professional musicians in the UK, but it also means that audiences may not be getting what they think they have paid for”. Bradbury said, “Karaoke must stay where it belongs – away from the professional stage”.
