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.
July 13, 2017
AFM President Ray Hair announced that Robert DiPaola now leads the AFM and SAG-AFTRA Fund as its chief executive officer.
July 13, 2017
In mid-July pro-union workers at Nissan Motor Company’s Mississippi plant filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a vote on union representation from the United Auto Workers (UAW).
July 13, 2017
An investment group led by former Chicago Alderman Edwin Eisendrath acquired the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Reader, staving off a competing bid by the owner of the Chicago Tribune Tronc, Inc and preserving the newspaper’s independent voice in Chicago.
July 11, 2017
On July 11, The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) announced that Guitar Center workers in four stores have ratified their first union contracts
July 11, 2017
Music Performance Trust Fund (MPTF) Trustee Dan Beck is a finalist in the 2017 Octicon Focus on People Awards, which honor outstanding people with hearing loss.
July 10, 2017
Actors’ Equity Association members ratified a new five-year contract with the League of Resident Theaters (LORT) in June.
July 10, 2017
Merit Preparatory Charter School in Newark, New Jersey, which has been ordered to close at the end of June due to its low test scores, says it will not pay its teachers the final two months owed.
July 7, 2017
In June, David Israelite, chief executive of the National Music Publishers Association, announced that Yoko Ono will be getting long overdue credit for her contribution to John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
July 7, 2017
But, she explains in a blog, every single negative comment was from a man. “These men like to claim that they aren’t sexist—that sexism, in fact, does not exist, but that women are inherently ‘inferior’ composers,” says Lentjes
July 7, 2017
With 18 days of continuous music, Epidemic Music Group broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Concert by Multiple Artists. More than 450 performers took part in the event that raised more than $90,000 for 16 charities that included Habitat for Humanity, United Way, and the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. In order to break the record audience size couldn’t drop below 10 people at the Stouffville, Ontario, Earl of Whitchurch pub.