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.
August 1, 2022
I often hear certain themes from local officers and committee members when talking about organizing: people just don’t want to join, it’s too difficult, people aren’t showing up for meetings, etc. The repetition of these negative affirmations can make it seem like organizing is a magical thing that only a certain few people can achieve. […]
August 1, 2022
From Starbucks to Amazon to musical workplaces, the ingredients of a labor campaign are universal—and like any great recipe, there are no shortcuts. This year saw inspiring worker wins at two major—and notoriously anti-union—corporations: Amazon and Starbucks. And these workers did it themselves, outside the framework of existing unions, forming the Amazon Labor Union and […]
January 1, 2022
by Wages Argott, AFM Director of Freelance Services and Membership Development Let’s talk about 2021, our first full calendar year under the shadow of COVID-19. I, like everyone else, finished 2020 grateful that my family and I were alive and healthy and we all still had roofs over our heads. I gave little thought to […]
December 1, 2021
January The Riot on Capitol Hill On January 6, a violent mob of President Donald Trump supporters sought to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election by disrupting the joint session of Congress assembled to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. On January 7, AFM President Ray Hair issued this statement: “The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and […]
November 1, 2021
by Tino Gagliardi, AFM Director of Theatre, Touring, and Booking Division It’s been a long time coming, but after 18 months, Broadway’s touring shows have finally reopened. Officially, the pandemic has not been declared “over,” but touring musicians, on-location musicians, stagehands, and production crews are returning to work. In 2020, 23 AFM-covered touring productions were […]
September 1, 2021
by Dave Pomeroy, International Executive Board Member and President of Local 257 (Nashville, TN) Over the past few decades, even before the pandemic, almost everything about the way we make records has been transformed. Hit recordings are being made in bedrooms and basements as well as big commercial studios. Music consumers have more choices than […]
August 1, 2021
Welcome to the first Organizing-focused issue of the International Musician. You may be familiar with the phrase “organizing is the lifeblood of labor unions,” but what exactly is organizing? Broadly, it is people joining together around shared issues to build collective power and win positive change. In my early career as a touring theater musician, […]
August 1, 2021
When it comes to labor organizing, it takes hard work and collective action to win. But often it only takes one person to start that change in motion. In March, cellist Theo Zimmerman of Local 802 (New York City), one of a group of musicians from all over the Northeast, was contacted about several days […]
July 31, 2021
When we think of union campaigns, we often think of people in the streets, a media presence, and pressure from the public, but these are actually the fruits of successful organizing that preceded them. Any organizer who has run a successful campaign knows the amount of preparation, research, and planning that is put in ahead […]
May 4, 2021
In February, the Hamilton, Ontario, city council overwhelmingly passed a new policy that guarantees fair wages for musicians at all city-funded events. During the pandemic, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger put together a task force on economic recovery, which included the music industry as a separate sector for the first time. If the city wanted to […]