ISM members have been sent the 2007-08 edition of the Society’s Yearbook with this issue of MJ. And the enclosed leaflet You & the ISM will remind them – as well as their colleagues who have not yet been prudent enough to join – of the benefits of membership, from round-the-clock legal and tax helplines to generous discounts on goods and services, and from comprehensive insurance schemes to counselling at times of stress, as well as the extraordinary value for money offered by the subscription.

The design of the Yearbook maintains the existing format, enhancing it with a clearer and more spacious presentation. We have added some colour to give it a little more zing in appropriate places. The content continues to build on the improvements we have been making year by year: for example, the complete terms and conditions of the ISM’s remarkable insurance schemes are included, both for the avoidance of doubts and fears, and to display their superior coverage. Photographs of the ISM’s Councillors, with a map of the Regions, show members how they fit into the Society, and who will be looking after their interests over the coming year. The Society’s aims and objectives, encapsulating our unswerving dedication to the highest professional standards – in the face of what seem to be steadily increasing odds – are there for everyone to see. The work of the ISM as a whole, and of the Specialist Sections, is reported in detail.

As usual, the bulk of the Yearbook is an up-to-date directory of all ISM members: mainly Full, but also Student, Associate and Emeritus. It is preceded by a list of our Corporate members, who help us bring together musicians and their suppliers under a single umbrella, giving the profession the clear, strong voice it needs at a time of increasing financial turbulence and political interference.

It might seem unnecessary to stress, every year, that the more members the Society has, the stronger it will be. But the message bears repetition. Every member should be out there recruiting colleagues. And we do mean every member, including those who contrive to live with divided loyalties (O, what circles we have heard them struggle to square!), and those who can’t remember, if they ever knew, why they joined the Society in the first place (O, what blissful ignorance!). Rather like music itself, it’s not so difficult if you know what you are talking about… Nothing beats personal contact and influence. Don’t hesitate to urge your fellow-musicians to join the professionals. Working in music is tough enough, without the naggingly insecure feeling that your back-up, well-meaning though it might be, doesn’t quite know its onions. Would you choose an amateur to do that root canal, whip out that appendix or tackle that re-wiring? Exactly. That’s why you need an association of professionals, professionally run, to represent your interests, support your aspirations for ever-higher  quality, and provide the legal and technical support you need to make a living. If your colleagues bleat that they don’t know what the ISM does, then tell them. Look at the Yearbook – and use it!

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