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.
June 29, 2020
The Symphonic Jazz Orchestra (SJO) has announced its sixth annual ASCAP Foundation/Symphonic Jazz Orchestra Commissioning Prize competition. The competition honors former SJO Co-Music Director and ASCAP Board Member George Duke. The $5,000 prize is open to all direct ASCAP composer members, with a submission deadline of August 17. The Music Advisory Board of the SJO […]
June 29, 2020
On June 8, The Council of the Writers Guild of America, East, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, unanimously passed a resolution calling on the AFL-CIO to disaffiliate with the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA). The resolutions state in part, “We believe that police unions are incompatible with the AFL-CIO’s stated goals: ‘to vanquish oppression, privation […]
June 29, 2020
The Music Performance Trust Fund has announced the MPTF Music Family Scholarship. OVERVIEW A scholarship fund utilizing the assets of the recording industry’s Music Performance Trust Fund (“MPTF”) and/or its related entity, the Music Performance Service Corp., was established in June 2020 to encourage the children of professional musicians to pursue higher education and to become […]
June 1, 2020
To view this article in English, click here. Alan Willaert, vice-président de la FAM pour le Canada Les dirigeants et le personnel des syndicats liés à l’industrie du divertissement s’entendent pour dire que la dévastation causée par la COVID-19 est totale et complète. De plus, lorsque les gens commenceront tranquillement à retourner au travail, les […]
June 1, 2020
The reinvented Revelation II microphone offers the warmth and intimacy of a premium tube microphone, but with extended clarity and punch for balanced recording.
June 1, 2020
The TRX Special Edition KX Thunder and AX Lightning Crash vented cymbals bring TRX’s popular, specially designed hole pattern to its mid-priced line.
May 29, 2020
The AFM last month joined with other entertainment unions and music industry organizations in highlighting the ways that the CARES Act has fallen short in assisting musicians and other entertainment workers.
May 29, 2020
More than 42,000 session musicians and vocalists in all 50 states and Canada will be sharing $62 million in royalties collected by the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund—the largest distribution in the fund’s history.
May 29, 2020
Pianist and composer Ran Blake is the 2020 recipient of the Boston Jazz Hero award from the Jazz Journalists Association
May 1, 2020
Music Is an Underrated Path to Social Justice When trumpet player Herb Smith of Local 66 (Rochester, NY) read the news about a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally being organized in downtown Rochester last summer, he knew he needed to take part in some way. This wasn’t a new feeling for him. Tall and dreadlocked, […]