A Visit from the FIM Presidium

May 1, 2023

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by Jay Blumenthal, AFM International Secretary-Treasurer

Globalization has created the imperative for the AFM’s continued membership in the International Federation of Musicians or Fédération International des Musiciens (FIM). It has become increasingly important that the AFM has a seat at the table where conversations are taking place between musician unions around the world.

Conversations include musician rights, the fight for fair compensation, as well as the distribution of revenue to the musicians when their music is played on the radio in countries other than where it was created. Discussion topics cover protests when employers act unjustly or when music is pirated. FIM can be a powerful voice for the global musician community.

Founded in 1948, FIM is the international organization for musicians’ unions and equivalent representative organizations. It now counts about 70 members in 60 countries throughout the world. The FIM website (www.fim-musicians.org) explains that FIM’s main objective is to protect and further the economic, social, and artistic interests of musicians represented by its member unions.

FIM makes it possible for there to be a collaborative process that allows musicians around the world to speak with one voice. On Monday, March 27, 2023, the FIM Presidium, which includes the following seven officers, met as our guests at the AFM New York Office:

• John Smith, President (United Kingdom)
• Benoît Machuel, General Secretary (France)
• Ray Hair, Vice President (United States)
• Edith Katiji, Vice President (Zimbabwe)
• Beat Santschi, Vice President (Switzerland)
• Anders Laursen, Vice President (Denmark)
• Horace Trubridge, Vice President (United Kingdom)

The morning after FIM’s meeting, the FIM Presidium met in a special meeting with the AFM International Executive Board (IEB). This was the first time such a meeting has taken place. A lively discussion on various topics ensued. Of particular interest were discussions about the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and continued work towards achieving the goal of “no collection without distribution” from those collectives around the world that do not forward to the AFM the portion of revenue they collect that rightfully belongs to US musicians, when their music is played around the world.

The joint morning meeting with FIM dovetailed nicely with the AFM IEB’s first quarterly meeting, scheduled to begin that afternoon.

Submission of the AFM’s LM-2 Report

The submission of our Labor-Management (LM-2) report to the Department of Labor was completed on time. The complexity of the report has grown over the years. This year it comprises 221 pages. To view the report, log into the AFM.org website with your AFM ID and password, click on the Document Library tab, and scroll down to the “Financial Documents and Annual Report” folder. Open the folder and scroll down to find “LM-2 Report (2022).”

The 2022 AFM Annual Report can be found in the same folder. The Annual Report includes our audited financials for 2022.

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