Our members 3126 members, one voice
strain to make themselves heard by the powers that be,
41 information and advice events, covering 12 topics
wish it was easier to connect with other amateur groups, shop around for ages to find affordable insurance, wonder how to challenge themselves artistically,
97% of members insured
400 new pieces commissioned by members 1.5 million total annual audiences
fret about how to attract a wide audience to their events,
ÂŁ18.8 million spent on 34,000 music professionals
struggle to express their contribution to the professional music sector, and then get on with making music. Annual Report 2015 A year of crossing stuff off the to-do list Fighting for the best deals and providing the expertise, networks and support that our members need to set up, run and thrive as voluntary music groups.
This page: Member group Wrexham Symphony Orchestra makes its debut at Bridgewater Hall Š Mark Carline Following spread: Streetwise Opera performers rehearse for The Passion Š Matt Priestley
Annual Report 2015
Our vision Our vision is of communities enriched by flourishing amateur and community music groups offering opportunities for participation and engagement in music to all in their locality, transforming individual and community wellbeing. Our mission Making Music's mission is to support, develop, connect and champion its members and everyone who makes, performs and presents music on a voluntary basis.
Message from the Executive Director
5
Projects 6 Services 8 Advocacy 10 Membership 12 Financial summary
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Staff and board 2016
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All quotes in this report come from the Making Music treasurers' survey and membership survey, and from feedback forms from Making Music projects and events.
During 2015, Making Music has consolidated its position as the leading charitable organisation in support of amateur music. Membership has continued to increase as does the level of music making across the UK. We have maintained our commitment to helping our members flourish, for example through group insurance, and special partnerships with PRS, and we have continued to work with local authorities to help make sure that local music library services continue. As always, we thank our staff, our volunteers, and everyone associated with Making Music for all their efforts.
Peter Lawson Chair, Making Music
Message from the Executive Director 2015 saw Making Music focus strongly on developing the way it engages with its members, and on its business systems, as well as managing an office move. Sorting itself out as an organisation – including the vast and complicated new website project — did not prevent Making Music from supporting members and launching new resources and services, notably the new model constitution and charity registration, and the new Information and Advice events, and developing staff expertise to enable them to provide the friendly and knowledgeable advice that members particularly rate us for. Thanks to the Pauline Thompson legacy, we were also able to appoint a dedicated Youth Engagement Manager, a vital role to support members’ efforts at attracting younger people. All that while still managing to grow our membership – net – by 2.7%. Of course we also engaged with the outside world on your behalf – most strongly, once again, on the topic of music libraries. We were closely involved with the new model of a regional hub now launched in Nottinghamshire/Leicestershire, as well as mobilising hundreds of you to prevent the closure of the Birmingham Music Library which was nearly a victim of its council’s budget cuts. Despite investing heavily into the new systems we commissioned, due to the prudence of staff and Board, Making Music has once again been
able to register a small financial surplus for 2015 and has enough reserves to satisfy its policy in that respect. We are proud of the solidity and stability of the organisation after the significant changes it had to accommodate in the previous two years, and hope this will make you feel that your association is well-run for your benefit, and that with us you continue to be in good hands. Finally I would like to celebrate all the work that you do, thousands of you, all around the UK, to make music happen in your community; patiently organising and managing and volunteering your time so that tens of thousands more people are able to take part in making music and enjoy its results in concerts absolutely everywhere. You are the unsung heroes – so here at Making Music we are singing your praises and giving you a resounding and deserved round of applause!
Barbara Eifler Executive Director, Making Music
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Projects
Making Music’s project work aims to: • encourage more people to become involved in live music on a voluntary basis • support members’ artistic and practical ambitions and development Here is a representative selection of our projects from 2015 Award for Young Concert Artists
Awards
Funded by a legacy from the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust, these awards enable members to engage exceptional young professional musicians, either as soloists to perform alongside them or to present in concert. Subsidies of up to 60% per artist make it possible for amateur groups to access world class talent and the stars of tomorrow.
The Lady Hilary Groves Prize for outstanding contribution to music in the community, nominated by members, went to Angela Ward of Music For Everyone, Nottingham. The Presidents Award was given to Louisa Bell for outstanding service as a Making Music volunteer.
The 2015 artists were: Charlotte Ashton, flute; Nazan Fikret, soprano; Amy Green, saxophone; Savitri Grier, violin; Ella Rundle, cello; Jinah Shim, piano; Joanna Songhi, soprano. To introduce them to members, the winners performed at the 2015 Annual General Meeting.
Having the pleasure of singing with a young professional of this calibre is a joy for which we (among many) owe a deep debt of gratitude to the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust.
Beryl, Yately Choral Society
88 6
applicants
winners
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Carols in Trafalgar Square Members, staff and volunteers came together to perform carols under the iconic Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square on 22 December. Together we raised £237 for Making Music. Youth Engagement With the Pauline Thompson legacy, Making Music appointed a part-time Youth Engagement Manager for three years. In 2015 she undertook research into the reasons for and barriers to young people’s engagement with adult amateur music groups. The results, and our subsequent plans for action, will be published in 2016. A Choir in Every Care Home Making Music was part of the wider working group for this project, funded by the Baring Foundation and led by Live Music Now!, Sound Sense and the Sydney de Haan Research Centre, looking at how to transform the UK’s 20,000 care homes into ‘singing homes’.
Adopt a Composer Funded by the PRS for Music Foundation and the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust, and delivered in partnership with Sound and Music, this project matches six composers with member groups for a year, leading to a piece being written for the group specifically and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Each pairing is overseen by an experienced mentor and supported throughout by Making Music. The project challenges groups to extend their repertoire, technical ability and musical literacy, while giving emerging composers the opportunity to work over a period of time with a music ensemble. Groups report increased confidence to
I gained a lot of confidence and my work is now taken more seriously because of the endorsement the project gives. Anna Braithwaite (2014-15)
Anna has been a joy to work with. She has been sensitive to the unique nature of the choir and has written a piece that
engage in the commissioning process and an understanding of how to work with professional composers; and composers gain increased awareness of the opportunities offered by the amateur music sector. The 2015 pairings were: Chris Hutchings with Jan Modelski Community Orchestra Ed Scolding with La Nova Singers Angela Slater with Lincoln Ukulele Band Neil Tòmas Smith with Thame Chamber Choir and TCC2 Lee Westwood with East London Community Band Alison Willis with Chiltern Youth Chamber Orchestra
stretches them but also celebrates who they are. She has involved them in the writing from the start and has incorporated their ideas into the final piece. We are very excited about the performance and hearing ourselves on national radio. The Quirky Choir (2014-15)
Music Day UK 2015 marked the first year of our involvement with Music Day UK, an annual celebration of music originating in France in 1982, which takes place at locations all around the country, and in over 120 other countries, every 21 June. Making Music presented performances, which were all free to attend, by amateur musicians in the beautiful setting of Victoria Embankment Gardens, London. The line-up included Vision Choir, London Mandolin Ensemble (pictured) and Britain’s Got Talent’s Gay and Alan. The day was rounded off by a workshop led by ex-STOMP cast member and Artistic Director of Beat Goes On, Ollie Tunmer. 7
Services Practical support, artistic development, making connections, speaking on members’ behalf. New in 2015 •
New model constitution Created with our partner, the Charity Commission, to ensure you have the best possible governing document for your activity. Alongside this, a new charity registration service.
•
New model contracts Created with partners ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicians) and abcd (Association of British Choral Directors) for performers and for musical directors.
•
New resources Guidance on music sourcing for librarians, on safeguarding, PRS, hearing loss, commissioning new music, performing in prisons, and creating family friendly events, plus advice sheets from partners Voluntary Arts.
•
New types of resources We are now writing up case studies on many topics in 2015, on audience development, fundraising, collaborating with other groups, and prisons. These are usually based on innovative or problem-solving practice we discover in our membership and which we think is worth sharing with everyone.
•
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New discounts From a number of music publishers; for piano hire; for Classical Music Magazine; for recording; for online ticket services; for selected artists as published in our annual guide; and of course for the new winners of the Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists, available to members with a subsidy of up to 60% per artist.
•
A brand new website Given 89% of members’ explicit desire in the 2014 membership survey to access our services online, and given the dissatisfaction with the old website, this was a priority and the development of the new website took a lot of surveying, thought, and sheer detail work to create. There are now more, and more varied resources, more easily accessible to members.
Website statistics
837,421
Total page views in 2015
Since launch of new site:
400% 70% increase in visits to the ‘Find an event’ page
increase in loading speed
Member engagement
Partners
Our new member engagement structure meant less training, but significantly more free Information and Advice events.
We deliver many services by working with others. Our thanks go to all of our partners, but in particular to:
It also saw the role of the Making Music Representative refreshed and considerably widened the scope of the Making Music Council, also agreeing its terms of reference. Furthermore, we re-structured how and when we pro-actively contact members, with a great cohort of volunteers in new roles supporting our Member Engagement Manager and our Managers in Scotland and Wales. A warm thank you to them for their engagement with Making Music.
Training events
5
events across the UK
3
different topics covered
94  96% bookings
said they would try something new as a result
Information and advice events
41 12
  
events across the UK
different topics covered
468 91% bookings
scored events with 4 or 5 (5 = excellent)
Making Music has been a godsend. I had lots of questions about starting a group as I had never run a choir before, but Making Music was there providing help every step of the way. Ruth, Waltham Chase Songbirds 9
Advocacy and campaigns
To make the voice of the amateur music sector heard, Making Music proactively seeks to influence issues (e.g. child licensing), reacts to problems brought by members (e.g. music libraries) and supports campaigns across the sector (e.g. music education). Music libraries This continued as the number one issue in 2015, as more local authorities reviewed costs and libraries, and targeted the non-statutory and poorly understood music sets services. Making Music undertook research for Nottingham City Council, involving users across four local authorities. As a result, the council invested in the creation of a new Performing Arts Library, the first regional hub, available to users in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, with a dedicated building and the first IT system commissioned specifically for a music library. In Birmingham, alerted to damaging proposals in the council’s budget consultation, we mobilised enough protest so that the music library, despite savage cuts and loss of the inter library loans facility, at least remains open, with a part-time dedicated staff member. Somerset involved Making Music in a wideranging consultation which resulted in a restructuring of charges. This may be but a shortterm solution, however, and we continue to monitor the situation. In Ealing, the outsourced contractor sought to run the music sets service with volunteers only. The situation remains unresolved. We also engaged with IAML (the International
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Association of Music Librarians, UK and Ireland branch) who is looking for solutions to upgrade its Encore database, to ensure it reflects up to date information on public access music libraries in the UK and their stock availability. Making Music’s aim is to discover short-term and medium- to long-term potential solutions for music libraries, and then to become pro-active in rolling these out to local authorities before services reach crisis point.
Music education This is a topic of great interest to amateur musicians who often feel that the opportunities they had at a young age – and the benefits they are still reaping from those, often into old age – are no longer available to children today. Making Music therefore takes this subject very seriously, engaging with relevant organisations such as Music Mark and the Music Education Council, regularly consulted by government on music education issues. We have also been working actively with the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) on their music education campaigns which have successfully brought the entire sector under one umbrella. In 2015, this work included a continuation of the Protect Music Education campaign which successfully lobbied for additional funding in 2014,
and then a gearing up of activity in the second half of the year with the second Bacc For The Future campaign, lobbying for inclusion of creative subjects in the Ebacc measure the government is planning to impose on schools. Making Music responded to the consultation, encouraged members and contacts to do so, disseminated the petition, signed a joint campaign letter to The Times and attended the All Party Parliamentary Group on Music Education, amongst other activity.
Other sample issues We met with Chairman of the Charity Commission, William Shawcross, to express our concern at plans to fund the regulator with contributions from the charities it regulates.
Making Music also works to raise the profile of amateur music, represent the sector and partner with others to achieve the best possible conditions for members and amateur music to flourish.
We submitted case studies to the relevant minister illustrating the difficulties caused by the current child licensing regime, which not only varies widely between local authorities, but also does not fit the needs of amateur music groups.
So, for instance, we meet regularly with the Association of British Choral Conductors (abcd), ABRSM, BBC Radio 3, the Musicians Union (MU), the Music Publishers Association (MPA), Ty Cerdd; collaborate with the Association of British Orchestras (ABO), Classic FM, Contemporary Music for All (CoMA), Voluntary Arts; attend Music Education Expo; and support the British Composer Award category for Amateur and Young Performers.
Responding to the government consultation on orchestra tax relief, we joined with colleagues across the sector to object successfully to the original definition of an eligible orchestra. Making Music’s new website brings together useful campaigning resources, including templates, research, toolkits, and advocacy document ‘Why Amateur Music Matters’ for use by amateur groups. www.makingmusic.org.uk/campaigns-andadvocacy/resources-for-campaigns
Making Music chaired two meetings of TONSIL, the network of organisations with an interest in singing, continued as part of representative body the National Music Council, and regularly attended the Cultural Campaigning Network, as well as meetings of the UK wide campaigning movement, What Next?.
Other campaigns supported by Making Music include Voluntary Arts’ Our Cultural Commons, www.ourculturalcommons.org Above: Harrogate Symphony Orchestra’s interactive performance for schoolchildren, which formed the climax of the BBC’s Ten Pieces. © Chris Hall
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Membership
Making Music has 3,126 member groups representing approximately 180,000 individuals. There are three types of group membership:
1. Full membership
£7,200 or under
full members
2. Associate membership
Open to any music group or organisation, but only amateur groups are eligible for the insurance scheme.
232
associate members
3. Affiliate membership Open to any network organisation wishing to purchase Making Music services for its own members.
130
groups represented by our 4 affiliate members
Individual membership
108 17 91
members in total at the end of 2015
Individual members
Musical Instrument Plus members
12
£31,00 0 – £100,0 00
£ – £ 14,5 21 00 ,00 0
00 1,0 0 £2 1,00 3 – £
Open to any amateur music group which has charitable objectives, does not pay its members and which provides for the disbursement of its funds, should it wind up, to another similar charitable organisation.
2,764
£7,200 – £14,50 0
Fig. 1 Our members by level of income
Above £100,000
£7,200 or under 48% of members
£21,000 – £31,000 8% of members
£7,200 – £14,500 23% of members
£31,000 – £100,000 9% of members
£14,500 – £21,000 11% of members
Above £100,000 1.5% of members
Thank you for all the help we received this year setting up our organisation. After just three months we are full and have a waiting list for people wishing to join! Daphne, Remember That Song
Corporate members Group type breakdown
870 431 1,825
Instrumental groups (28%)
Promoting groups (14%)
Vocal groups (58%)
Volunteers Making Music is fortunate in being supported by a large group of volunteers in a variety of roles. A heartfelt thank you to them from Making Music and its members for their help and contribution.
 
49 29 2
in total at the end of 2015
membership engagement volunteers
office volunteers
8
concert promoters’ group
10
board members
13
Financial summary
Making Music’s accounts in 2015 comprised of income from unrestricted funds, mainly membership subscriptions and member services, alongside restricted funds, mainly grants for specific projects, bank interest and royalties income from the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust, which supports the Award for Young Concert Artists and the Adopt a Composer project.
Income Core grant income
On the expenditure side, Making Music’s costs – as with most membership organisations – are its staff, the provision of membership services and associated costs, marketing, and office costs. Below is a summary of the financial information for 2015. The full accounts can be found at www.makingmusic.org.uk/about-us
£ £ 2015 2014 32,790
153,251
365,362
353,034
Donations and legacies
20,125
170,084
Advertising and merchandising
31,563
36,909
Membership subscriptions
Investment income and interest
7,612
4,573
135,579
84,336
Special events
22,507
21,123
Member services
20,747
40,718
Grants, sponsorship and fees
Total
636,285 864,078
Expenditure
2015 2014
Costs of generating funds
10,676
19,159
5,280
3,600
Grants payable (AYCA) Events Marketing
152,710 136,981
14,697 20,697
Staff costs (unrestricted)
295,661
416,966
Office costs
130,932
101,291
Other Total Net movements in funds for the year
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20,825 20,476 630,781 5,504
719,170 144,908
Staff and board 2016
Board Chair
Peter Lawson
Vice Chair
Clare Birks
Honorary Treasurer
Peris Roberts
Directors
Chris Goodall Allan Grayson-Jones Andrew Palmer Ken Scott Glynne Stackhouse Valerie Taylor
Co-opted Director
Ruth Irons
Staff Executive Director
Barbara Eifler
Head of Finance
Workineh Asres
Membership and Services Manager
Ben Saffell
Projects and Membership Coordinator
Sally Palmer
Membership and Office Coordinator
Laura Shipsey
Marketing and Communications Manager
Ollie Mustill
PR and Publications Manager
George Acock
Communications and Events Coordinator
Rey Trombetta
Member Engagement Manager
Sharon Moloney
Manager, Scotland
Alison Reeves
Manager, Wales
Abigail Charles
Youth Engagement Manager
Xenia Davis
AYCA Administrator
Alexandra Scott
Governance Making Music is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. Its governing document, the Memorandum & Articles of Association, states its objective as: ‘To maintain, improve and advance education by promoting the art and practice and public performance of music throughout the United Kingdom and in other countries.’ It is overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors, of which 9 are elected from and by the membership and up to 3 more who can be co-opted. The directors are also the trustees of the charity. 15
History Frederick Woodhouse of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and Sir George Dyson founded the National Federation of Music Societies (NFMS) on 23 February 1935, with the support of the Carnegie UK Trust. In 2000, the NFMS changed its name to Making Music. Today Making Music is the UK’s number one organisation for voluntary music, encouraging all kinds of voluntary music groups to be part of our vibrant multi-cultural music scene.
Making Music The National Federation of Music Societies 8 Holyrood Street London SE1 2EL 020 7939 6030 info@makingmusic.org.uk www.makingmusic.org.uk Making Music is the trading name of the National Federation of Music Societies, a registered charity in England and Wales no. 249219 and in Scotland no. SC038849. A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales no. 308632. VAT registration no. 239 0186 63.