SOUNDHOUSE FAIR WORK STATEMENT

The Soundhouse Organisation employs freelancers in all its roles. The people we work with are engaged using the following principles:

Fair Pay

Industry standard rates are consulted, for musicians that means the Musicians Union, and for other roles where union representation is not standard we consult with our peers in the industry. For all freelancers working for Soundhouse rates will always be above the real living wage.

Whilst we do not have our own premises, we work with venues who pay all staff the real living wage or above. The current real living wage rate can be viewed by visiting scottishlivingwage.org

Musicians are paid for any performance whether a regular ticketed concert or a promotional event.

Opportunity

As we are a small organisation there is not a huge amount of opportunity for our freelance team to progress to other roles, however we do support those working with us to gain skills that they can use with other employers, for example introducing musicians to programming roles (and bringing them to showcase events), allowing social media professionals a chance to improve their video editing skills, and supporting technicians in work experience with our sound crew (one such person is now a highly valued part of our regular team).

For emerging talent we hold showcase events at each of our festivals allowing them to play to a live audience whilst also receiving a professionally mixed live track and professionally edited live video to use going forward.

And if we photograph a show the musicians are given access to those pictures so they can use them for promotional purposes.

Respect, communication and caring for all involved

We think it very important that our team enjoy what they do, are well looked after and are listened to. This has become an under-rated part of work that we are passionate about. We have always known that if you pick the best venues with the best acoustics and sight lines, employ great sound engineers, and supply good back stage areas this goes a long way to keeping musicians happy. And this isn’t just good news for them it’s great for the audiences too.

For engineers we ensure that they have all the equipment they need to put on a good show and that have reasonable breaks between soundcheck and performance.

All the team (not directly involved with the staging of a concert) can come along to our shows and many do. Musicians are welcome to sit in on other gigs happening at the festivals.

We ensure that musicians know all pertinent information about the show in good time and can contact show producers if they need assistance with anything. We reply to their questions, in most cases, on the same day.

Additionally programmers, marketers and engineers all have direct lines of communication to us and know that we are open to their suggestions at all times.

For volunteers, all are able to enjoy the show they are helping out with and offered refreshments.

During the festivals our musicians, technical staff and engineers are fed by in-house caterers, drinks are supplied in dressing rooms (with many non-alcohol options available).

For those musicians requiring accommodation this is provided as close to the venue as possible in good quality hotels (usually Premier Inn).

We have a code of practice in place so all involved know where to go if they have a problem, and can contact our trustees directly if they need to do so.

Security

We are not able to offer job security in the traditional way as we do not employ any full-time staff. As mentioned above all our co-workers are freelance. However, we do offer fair rates of pay, often well above real living wage and union rates; we ensure that hours of work are well defined; and offer flexibility for those in non-production roles. This flexibility means that we are able to work with those who have young children, suffer from chronic health conditions/disabilities or have other challenges such as neurodiversity.

We also make sure that musicians booked are supported if they have additional needs such as childcare, disability or are just in need of a rehearsal space.

In summary

We take great pleasure in our work putting on concerts and producing festivals in Edinburgh. We want everyone who works with us – in production, support and performance roles – to feel that way too.

Jane-Ann Purdy & Douglas Robertson
June 2025