Vice President

by Dr. Karen Suarez Flint, AFM International Vice President and Local 10-208 (Chicago, IL) Secretary-Treasurer

In the weeks leading up to the 103rd AFM Convention, I ran a national campaign with a forward-thinking vision for the AFM based on the belief that when all musicians feel seen, heard, and represented, power is built and transformational progress can occur. The delegates agreed and elected me the first woman to hold the office of AFM vice president in the AFM’s 130 years.

Though I am deeply honored to take on this new role, I am clear-headed in knowing that now, the real work begins. As vice president, I intend to help the AFM diversify, expand, and unite membership, engage in empathetic leadership, change the culture, magnify the challenges musicians face, and build broader coalitions to protect live performance and recorded music.

In order to diversify, unite, and expand our membership, we must acknowledge and learn from the missteps of our union’s past: we must understand why many musicians feel excluded, why certain genres have been overlooked, and why some members have been forced to suffer in silence. It is through empathetic leadership that all musicians can be reassured they have a safe and valued place in our union.

My approach to organizing is simple—
listen, learn, and create actionable solutions. In Chicago, we have used this approach to help build trust with Chicago’s hip-hop artists and empower them to stand up against the exploitative “pay to play” culture.

A conversation with an indie rock musician opened my eyes to the negative impact Live Nation has on indie musicians and the local live music scene. I have shared with legislators the impact of this monopoly, including its harmful radius clause, on musicians and the local economy. I have discussed the issue on America’s Workforce Union Podcast. I am currently organizing a summit with indie artists, independent venue owners, and state and local legislators to discuss how we can work together to improve the independent venue live music ecosystem.

By asking how we can help and engaging these groups of stakeholders who we may have previously seen as adversaries, we focus on building relationships, establishing relevance, and gaining public recognition of the challenges facing musicians.

As vice president, I will reassemble the Change the Culture Committee to provide our members with written protocols that explains in step-by-step detail the entire process when filing a complaint on the #NotMe app. Unfortunately, the lack of education surrounding the initial rollout of the AFM’s #NotMe app led to a deep misunderstanding of the importance and effectiveness of this tool in keeping our workplaces safe. I look forward to educating our membership on the many ways this app has made our workplaces safer and, in fact, saved jobs.

To combat the systematic extraction of wealth from working musicians via the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly, streaming platforms, and AI companies, we will need to assemble a massive and diverse coalition of arts, business, and civic leaders by making our goals known through clear and unified messaging.

Whether you perform on an orchestral stage, at a local club, or to a sold-out arena, we need your help. We need you to recognize that what you do is labor. Art is labor, and in the history of the labor movement, we often have had to make serious decisions together about when to ratify a contract, and when to withhold our labor. Your art is your product. Your product is power. Let us take back our industry, end the exploitation, ensure our workplaces are safe for everyone, and inspire future young musicians to enter this amazing profession.