Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members. And now there are more benefits available to AFM members than ever before, including a multi-million dollar pension fund, excellent contract protection, instrument and travelers insurance, work referral programs and access to licensed booking agents to keep you working.
As an AFM member, you are part of a membership of more than 80,000 musicians. Experience has proven that collective activity on behalf of individuals with similar interests is the most effective way to achieve a goal. The AFM can negotiate agreements and administer contracts, procure valuable benefits and achieve legislative goals. A single musician has no such power.
The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.
Like the industry, the AFM is also changing and evolving, and its policies and programs will move in new directions dictated by its members. As a member, you will determine these directions through your interest and involvement. Your membership card will be your key to participation in governing your union, keeping it responsive to your needs and enabling it to serve you better. To become a member now, visit www.afm.org/join.
December 1, 2019
Still playing at 85, Jack Ashford draws on those glory days of Detroit and the Funk Brothers to generate rare and in-demand soul music.
November 4, 2019
The Music of the Trees In August 2018, after waiting two years to see the instrument he commissioned from one of the world’s premier oboe makers, oboist J. Scott Janusch played for the first time an oboe unlike any that has ever existed—one made of rare, 300-year-old Hawaiian kauila wood. The instrument, with a reddish-brown […]
October 1, 2019
Holly Hofmann is the rarest of musicians: A flutist who has made a successful career as a jazz player who capitalizes on the instrument’s versatile palette.
September 24, 2019
Local 70-558 President Thomas Kluge, who initiated the changes, loves his job as a symphonic violist and his musical community—which is ironic, since, as a young student he was told by a violin teacher not to pursue music as a career.
August 26, 2019
The Ryan Anthony Foundation was founded to help raise money for cancer research, and CancerBlows concerts have become the foundation’s premier events.
August 19, 2019
Jason Aldean’s recording and touring drummer has played on 26 No. 1 hit songs, as well as co-produced and written three no. 1 hit radio songs.
July 19, 2019
Donna Parkes has enjoyed a prodigious career, from performing at the Sydney Opera House at just 20 to competing around the world and playing in major orchestras across the US.
July 5, 2019
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Jesse Kinch of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) may only be 25 years old, but he is already a seasoned musician.
June 24, 2019
Local 802 member and saxophonist John Isley has been a union member for 30 years. His jobs have spanned the industry, from working as a copyist on Broadway during graduate school to touring years later with the Broadway hit Movin’ Out.
June 17, 2019
Fourteen-year-old Capri Everitt of Local 145 (Vancouver, BC) is a singer, speaker, and youth ambassador for orphaned children.