Equity and Singers
We welcome into membership professional singers who work in choirs, choruses and groups but also those who work as individuals in pubs, clubs and other light entertainment venues, concerts, opera, pop, theatre, recordings, sessions, radio, television, films and in places of worship.
Work Matters
Equity negotiates minimum terms and conditions across the entertainment industry keeping pace with technological and other changes. Agreements cover all aspects such as hours of work and health and safety as well as rates of pay. Working under Equity terms means you are better protected. Singers are covered in all the following Equity Agreements:
- National and house agreements for opera
- West End, Provincial, Subsidised Repertory and Small Scale Theatre Agreements
- BBC, ITV and PACT Television Agreements
- BBC Radio Agreement
- Radio Commercials Agreement
- CORCA agreement for Variety artists
- BPI agreements for pop and classical recordings
- PACT cinema agreement
- Classical public concerts guidelines
- TV commercials guidelines
We also aim to represent members working abroad and even if a member is engaged on a non-Equity contract, we are happy to give advice.
Singers Rates' Card
We produce a comprehensive guide to the minimum rates of pay for singers. This is available free of charge to any Equity member who requires it, and it is updated whenever any of these rates change. This means that singer members of Equity are always kept informed.
Singers' News
This is sent twice a year, free of charge to all those on the Singers' Register, to any other Equity member who requests it and to places where singers work. It lets singers know what we are working on that is of special relevance to them so it contains news, interviews and useful contact information. Any Equity member who is a singer is entitled to go onto the Singers' Register and automatically receive the Singers' News, Rates' Card and any other information that is of specific relevance to singers.
Singers within Equity
- There are two specialist committees for singers which are made up of elected members. The Concert and Session Singers' Committee and the Opera Deputies' Committee both work hard to promote and extend the rights of the groups they represent.
- There are reserved places for singers on the policy-making body the Equity Council, plus places for Variety Councillors who represent singers and others working in variety, circus and light entertainment. This level of representation within Equity means that the views and needs of our singer members are always heard when policy is being made.
- There are members of staff in both our Theatre/Variety and Film/Television/Radio departments who are assigned to look after singers in whatever arena of work they are engaged.
- Equity's Regional and National Organisers are also well-versed in issues affecting singers and so help and information are never far away.
Singers' Rights
We spearheaded a campaign resulting in legislation which gives performers a right to remuneration from broadcast and public use of sound recordings in Britain and other countries. Equity was the force behind the setting up of P@MRA which distributes these monies to those singers whose work comes under the terms of this legislation.
In 2000 we won a case we took to the European Court of Justice to ensure that UK opera singers who had been working in Belgium were refunded the local National Insurance they had been charged plus seven years' interest. This victory is of much wider significance than solely opera singers as it means that any self-employed person normally working in the UK, who goes to another Member State of the European Union should only pay contributions in the UK and not in the second country. So it applies to any kind of UK singer who goes to the EU to work for up to twelve months.