I think it's the former theatre producer in me that has problems with the idea that the producers of stage musicals somehow have an ethical obligation to only use live musicians. It may be true that a live orchestra or band add to the consumer experience of a stage show, but surely that's an artistic versus commercial decision, and not about fulfilling some sort of ethical obligation to keep musicians in work.
But, as previously reported, the Musician's Union don't necessarily agree, and have various agreements in place with theatre producers as to when they can and can't use recorded music for musical stage shows. And as part of its campaign to keep musicians employed in musical theatre, the MU has welcomed a court ruling against the Lowry Theatre in Manchester.
This case was, though, was actually about the way a stage show using pre-recorded music marketed itself, rather than the use of recorded music itself. A cellist called Adrian Bradbury sued producers of a Christmas production of 'The Wizard Of Oz' at the Lowry under the Trade Descriptions Act, claiming that the show's publicity material implied there would be live music when, in fact, there wasn't.
Bradbury had taken his family to see the show, and argued he had been sold tickets under false pretences. And the court agreed that the theatre's presentation of a show to backing tapes was inappropriate given they'd described their production of 'The Wizard Of Oz' as "the most magical family musical of them all". The court ordered the theatre to give Bradbury back the money he'd spent on tickets.
Bradbury welcomed the ruling, calling any production that uses backing tracks glorified karaoke. He told reporters: "I am over the moon that a court of law has recognised the importance of live interaction in a musical performance. A pre-recorded track cannot react musically to live singing or dancing, so has no place in a musical theatre. Karaoke must stay where it belongs - away from the professional stage".
Of course if such a theory was applied to pop concerts there'd be lots of problems, and it should be noted the court's ruling in this case related to the way the show was communicated, and not the principle of using backing tracks over a live band. And while the MU do oppose the use of backing tracks in stage musicals as a principle, they also recognise this case was about consumer expectations. That, though, links nicely to its own Honesty Code campaign, which is calling on theatre producers who use backing tracks rather than live musicians to make sure that is properly communicated in show publicity.
MU General Secretary John Smith told CMU: "It is extremely disappointing when recorded music replaces live musicians in musical theatre productions. 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. We will continue to campaign against the use of recorded music in theatre where it denies our members work that has traditionally been a major source of employment for them".