"To advance and protect the professional status and interests of Orchestrators (Music Arrangers), Copyists (Music Typesetters) and Electronic Arrangers throughout Australia."
"To maintain excellence in the professional standard of Orchestration (Music Arrangement), Copying (Music Typesetting) and Electronic Arrangement throughout Australia."
"Seek to heighten industry and public awareness of the importance of our national membership's expertise."
If you are thinking of becoming a professional music arranger, electronic arranger, orchestrator and/or copyist, you should also think seriously about belonging to a professional association whose objective is to advance and protect the professional status and interests of its members. The Music Arrangers' Guild of Australia (MAGA) Incorporated is such an organisation. It is a national body registered as an incorporated association with the Australian Securities Commission as well as the Office of Fair Trading (NSW), and as such, it is a unified entity, which has brought together all the former State Divisions of MAGA. In so doing, it is represented by a stronger voice as reflected by the size of its overall membership throughout Australia, which currently numbers about 250. It's governing body, the National Executive, comprises of at least eight (8) biennially elected members from NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. The Guild's administration also comprises of three (3) additional biennially elected members, in the roles of Trustees.
MAGA members are Australia's elite music arrangers, electronic arrangers, orchestrators, copyists and music engravers. A Constitution forms the basis for regulating and governing operations of the Guild. Recommended Fee Schedules for the differing categories of work are also available.
Annual membership to the Guild comes in various forms:
To ensure that new Full Member and Certificate of Merit admissions meet a minimum standard of proficiency, an entry test is conducted (see Membership Application Kit). Subject to the approval of the National Executive, the successful applicant will be notified of his/her admission to Guild membership. Please note that the National Executive meets on a monthly basis from February to November each year. Applicants will be notified of their entry outcomes shortly after they are assessed at any of these National Executive meetings. Successful Full Member and Friend of MAGA applicants are then issued with a MAGA Stamp, bearing their preferred name, a unique MAGA membership number and the category of their membership (arranger, copyist, electronic arranger or friend). Successful Certificate of Merit applicants are issued with formal documentation of their finite association with this category.
Membership matters. As a member, your new profile is uploaded to our online database. You will have complete individual access to your profile via a Username and Password. Your online profile is completely self-administering and you have the choice of its display in either the Public OR Members Only OR Internal only interfaces. Apart from any choice of contact details, a brief curriculum vitae, examples of your work and/or URL links can be added to this online profile as an added personal marketing tool. You also gain access to the MEMBERS ONLY section of our website which hosts a number of valuable MAGA-specific resources and tools.
Membership also means that you will be included in a monthly email-out of related topics, news and work opportunities. Other MAGA membership facilities include access to software and hardware solutions, copyright advice, service charge support, contractual guidance, score-writing workshops and webinars, a reference library and industry standards. MAGA members create a national community of immense hands-on knowledge, creative ideas and musical inspiration.
Whether you are a music student, music enthusiast, professional musician or music-related organisation, membership means being an elite part of Australia's rich and divers cultural landscape.