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.
March 1, 2021
We are approaching the one-year mark since the onset of the COVID pandemic, which resulted in authorities declaring a public health emergency and a lockdown requiring the closure of our AFM New York City office from March 19 through June 24, 2020. The AFM Los Angeles and Washington, DC offices were closed similarly. These closings […]
March 1, 2021
When the pandemic effectively demolished live music in mid-March of last year, the AFM Canadian Office immediately dispatched letters to whomever in government was in a position to be of assistance, as identified with the aid of our knowledgeable lobbyist, Isabel Metcalfe. While I’m sure our plea to recognize the severity of the situation did […]
March 1, 2021
Freelance musicians working in live entertainment venues have been among the hardest hit by the effects of the pandemic. Although the nature of this work has always been precarious, the pandemic has exposed structural problems that have long existed and that leave freelancers exceedingly vulnerable—the recent difficulties in accessing unemployment benefits is only the latest […]
February 1, 2021
On January 7, I issued the following statement in the aftermath of the mob attack on our capitol: “The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada condemns in the strongest terms the mob assault upon the US Capitol building, which was an attempt to subjugate our democracy and the peaceful and constitutional transfer […]
February 1, 2021
As you read my column this month, much will be different in Washington, DC. Our new president and vice president will have taken office, but only after an eventful and tumultuous final two weeks of the previous administration. We all watched incredulously as a large group of malcontents descended on the nation’s Capitol, scaling outside […]
February 1, 2021
There is no question that the pandemic has wreaked havoc on our industry. Our stages, concert halls, festivals, and nightclubs have shuttered. Never before has a crisis destabilized our sector and our union in the way the coronavirus crisis has. Our collective future is unclear. As members and leaders in our union await the restoration […]
January 1, 2021
The American Federation of Musicians congratulates President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris for their victory in the November 2020 general election. Our union endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket because their campaign agenda promoted the protection of American workers, and committed to strengthening worker organizing, collective bargaining, and unions. As I’ve mentioned in this column […]
January 1, 2021
The Black Lives Matter movement has raised awareness and made the need for more diversity central to the ongoing conversation. The International Musician Editorial Board thought it was an opportune time to take an introspective look at diversity within the pages of our official union publication that you receive every month as a member of […]
January 1, 2021
How many times will we say or hear, this week or over the coming months, how happy everyone is that 2020 is behind us? We all know the extreme toll the challenges of the past 10 months have taken on musicians and their families, financially, physically, and emotionally. Although we have not yet escaped the […]
January 1, 2021
en français “Schools closed, church services cancelled, restaurants, shops, theatres, and venues shuttered, public gatherings limited and then banned, and a $5 ‘civic duty’ fine levied against those refusing to wear a mask,” was how it was reported. Sound familiar? Interestingly, those events took place between 1918 and 1920, when the so-called “Spanish Flu” claimed […]