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.

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Officer Columns, President's Message

Tino Gagliardi – AFM International President

New Public TV Contract Ratified

I am pleased to report that after three rounds of negotiations, starting in October 2015, the Federation reached agreement with representatives of public television employers including the Public Broadcasting Service, WGBH, WETA, WTTW, Austin City Limits, Sesame Workshop, and Thirteen Productions (formerly Educational Broadcasting Corporation) for a successor National Public Television Agreement. The agreement was ratified June 1, and will extend three years.


AFM, Media Convergence and Performance Rights, Part 5

In the fifth and final part of our series, we examine the growth of streaming and the potential to drive new money to MPTF, SPF, and AFM-EPW.


AFM Media Convergence and Performance Rights, Part 4

In part four of this series we discuss the AFM’s role in advocating digital performance rights, and its partnerships with Sound-Exchange and SAG-AFTRA in royalty distributions.


AFM, Media Convergence and Performance Rights, Pt. 3

Part three of this series discusses how revolutionary systems in digital media production and distribution have converged, disrupting business models.


AFM, Media Convergence and Performance Rights Part 2

The future of the Federation depends in part on its ability to bargain progressive media agreements despite global competitiveness and a burgeoning background of web-based, user-generated-content that has blurred the lines between broadcasting and other media across all elements of consumption.


AFM, Media Convergence, and Performance Rights

AFM, Media Convergence, and Performance Rights — To understand what is happening now in music and media, let’s look to our past to remember who we are, where we came from, and what we did, in order to help us see where we go from here.


Chief Operating Officer Mancini Retires

Chief Operating Officer Mancini Retires — Lew Mancini, whose tenure with the Federation began in 1971 as a supervisor in the Booking Agent Department, and who eventually became our highest-ranking employee as chief operating officer (COO), retired from service effective December 31, 2015.


Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra: Big Balls in Cowtown

Fast forward to Fort Worth, Texas, where this holiday season, musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) are working under an expired contract and battling the town honchos’ flatfooted attempts to impose unjustified concessions, made to compensate for inept management and to quench the thirst for additional rent and a bigger cut of ticket sales by their landlord, the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall.


Public Television Contract Negotiations Have Begun

Fresh on the heels of last month’s opening round of Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA) negotiations, the Federation has just finished the opening round of talks with the Public Television Industry toward a successor National Public Television (NPTV) Agreement. First negotiated in the early 1970’s, the existing agreement was reached in December 2002, and expired […]


Record Labels Return to the Table: Seeking Successor to Sound Recording Labor Agreement

As I write this column, preliminary caucus meetings have just concluded in preparation for the opening round of talks with major labels representing the sound recording industry toward a successor Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA).








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