Alan Willaert

AFM Vice President from Canada

What Were They Thinking?

February 1, 2024

Membership in the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) is indicative of arrival as a professional and carries with it a certain amount of respect and pride and has infinite monetary value. Many of the collective agreements negotiated on behalf of members are also administered by the AFM, but there […]

Well, What Do Ya Know?

December 1, 2023

As of this writing, the federal government has introduced Bill C-58, which is the culmination of decades of work by the labour movement in Canada. It aims to ban the practice of employers bringing in replacement workers during a contract dispute. There are two main components to the bill. The first makes it illegal for […]

Look Out – It’s Already Here

July 3, 2023

The nightly news has, for the past year at least, featured reports of how artificial intelligence (AI) has become significantly more intelligent. Examples of “deep fakes” permeate social media, depicting well-known celebrities in various questionable activities, while it was not that celebrity at all, but a computer-generated rendition. The use of AI has become so […]

At Last!

June 1, 2023

Lire cette chronique en français: https://internationalmusician.org/enfin/ It was almost 30 years ago that the AFM International Executive Board (IEB) approved a document for use in Canada to cover theatrical motion pictures and episodic television film, which were considered Canadian content. More specifically, the productions had to comply with established criteria, such as certification through the […]

Enfin!

June 1, 2023

par Alan Willaert, vice-président de la FAM pour le Canada Il y a près de 30 ans, le conseil international de direction de la FAM a entériné un document pour le Canada s’appliquant au cinéma commercial et aux séries télévisées, qui étaient considérés comme du contenu canadien. Plus précisément, les productions devaient répondre à certains […]

Big Test for Labour Is Imminent

May 1, 2023

The following embodies a previously submitted article. However, given the political polarization now inherent in our country and the significant radicalization permeating both provincial and federal politics, the urgency of this message is even more pronounced than when first written. Add to that the war in Ukraine, and parallels are evident. When the gavel dropped […]

Yes, It IS a Union Gig! 

April 1, 2023

Maybe a full moon is to blame. In recent months, the CFM has encountered a spate of efforts to circumvent our agreements. These unscrupulous producers are, of course, attempting to a) get away with paying less, b) expropriate musicians’ rights and c) encourage musicians to act as nonmembers.  The first case in point is a […]

Wait … Fake What?

March 1, 2023

For the past 18 months, the National Music Centre (NMC), an organization based in Paris, France, has been involved in a study on the manipulation of listening on music platforms. The first of its kind, the research has gathered data on the extent of fraudulent or fake streams. After years of suffering due to file […]

D’Juno?

February 1, 2023

One of the core services of the Federation is collective bargaining, headed by our national offices or within the locals. In Canada, locals have autonomy to bargain within their jurisdiction. Exceptions to this are the events which move from province to province on a yearly basis. To provide continuity, the Canadian Office is responsible for […]

Update on Bill C-11

January 1, 2023

As I reported in October, a last-minute amendment to Bill C-11, the proposed update to the Broadcasting Act removed the application of Status of the Artist legislation from online undertakings. In other words, the ability for artists’ unions to compel big tech to bargain collectively was suddenly excised. The bumbling and embarrassed excuses from the […]