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.
May 13, 2019
As we enter the spring and summer seasons, the Canadian Office will be embroiled in a plethora of negotiations, both for successor and new agreements.
May 6, 2019
The long-awaited move to our new office space happened April 1. The construction timeline to build out the new space was very tight, so things went right down to the wire, which created plenty of angst and nail biting. The AFM International Executive Board (IEB) meeting scheduled for April 2 was the first official meeting in the new space.
May 2, 2019
On March 18, after a week of intense negotiations, an agreement was reached with major Hollywood film producers and their television film counterparts to extend the existing Theatrical and Motion Picture Film agreements until November 14, 2019, with a 2% increase in wages.
April 17, 2019
This new revenue stream has brought the MPTF back from the dire straits in which the fund found itself just a decade ago.
April 15, 2019
In the absence of a written agreement, there is automatic equal ownership of the assets, equal distribution of income, joint and several liability, and the duties and responsibilities are not apportioned. Quite literally, you are married to the band.
April 10, 2019
Last year, the Department for Professional Employees (DPE) of the AFL-CIO hosted a meeting with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director L. Francis Cissna and the coordinating committees of several Arts, Entertainment and Media Industry (AEMI) unions.
April 2, 2019
The economy of streaming media is booming, but those of us who make and create the music—featured and nonfeatured alike, instrumentalists, singers, composers, copyists, and arrangers—are not receiving our fair share of the pie.
March 6, 2019
In the first half of 2019 our New York Office is facing “the perfect storm.” A confluence of Federation events, culminating with our June AFM Convention, will be challenging to say the least.
March 4, 2019
If you’ve been following the status of the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF), you know it has been facing severe funding problems since the Great Recession, despite earning relatively good investment returns since then and receiving a significant contribution increase
March 1, 2019
I have been advised that long-time employer trustee and chair of the Musicians’ Pension Fund of Canada, Stanley J. Shortt, has retired from the board of trustees for personal reasons.