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 1, 2024
by Gabe Kristal, AFM Director of Organizing It is no secret that organized labor has been in decline for several decades from its high point in 1954, when more than one in three US workers belonged to a union. However, there is new momentum for our labor movement. Buoyed by the Biden Administration and the […]
July 1, 2024
by Gabriel Feldman-Schwartz, AFM Field Organizer There are two competing ways to view the workplace. There’s the boss’s way: a place where workers shouldn’t communicate with each other and should do whatever is assigned to them with no hesitation. This workplace vision is full of deference to management, isolation, and competition among coworkers. Separately, there […]
July 1, 2024
by Rahul Neuman, AFM Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) Organizer My start date as the organizer at AFM Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) coincided almost exactly with the start of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike last year. On that first day of the WGA strike, I went out with a small group of […]
July 1, 2024
by Claire Park, AFM Field Organizer An organizing conversation could begin something like this: “Hey Joe, I overheard what you said at last week’s gig about your concerns with workplace safety. I feel the same way. I’ve been talking with some of the other musicians about how unionizing could help us. Do you have time […]
May 1, 2024
The AFM is pleased to announce a new agreement with singer and songwriter Josh Groban. Signed in March, the agreement stipulates that Groban will sign union contracts for all of his live performances and tours that engage accompanying or background musicians. The contracts will be executed through the AFM local in whose jurisdiction the performance […]
December 30, 2023
Contract negotiations for AFM’s Basic Theatrical Motion Picture and Basic Television Motion Picture Agreements with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will begin January 22 in Los Angeles, California. Planning for the upcoming negotiations began in 2021 with the steering committee and rank-and-file musicians collaborating with the AFM director of organizing to […]
September 1, 2023
by Bea Bruske, President, Canadian Labour Congress The work of Canada’s labour movement in recent years has been replete with success, benefiting every worker in Canada. From investments to tackle climate change, protections for workers with paid sick days, and an expansion of the Canada Pension Plan, the ability of unions to advance our economy […]
September 1, 2022
This year, Oregon, Washington, and Illinois State AFL-CIO Conventions have all adopted resolutions requiring affiliate unions to hire union performers and use union contracts for entertainment. In 2005, a SAG-AFTRA resolution passed the Oregon AFL-CIO convention, requiring affiliate unions to hire union performers—including musicians—and use union contracts. But, over the past decade and a half, […]
August 1, 2022
My career has gone from playing in orchestras, opera companies, and Broadway shows to arts administration, and of course, the labor advocacy, organizing, and education work I do here at the AFM. In these many roles, I’ve often been called to help musicians out of various problem situations. Sometimes I shake my head upon hearing […]
August 1, 2022
As our cover story this month illustrates, the lines between opportunity and employment are often blurred in the minds of working musicians. Whether we are “students” who are being paid less than professionals, or freelance musicians eager to take every opportunity, it is easy to rationalize that the details don’t matter, or that the connections […]