Charting Our Course with Solidarity and Strategy

June 1, 2026

Tino A. Gagliardi  -  Theatre, Touring, and Booking Division Director

In preparation for the 103rd AFM Convention in Ottawa (June 20-23), I have been looking back on the work of the AFM since the last convention. As I stated in the AFM 2025 Annual Report, it’s clear that the Federation stands at a crossroads. Our greatest strength has always been our unity, but in an era defined by a fluctuating economic landscape and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, unity alone is no longer enough. To secure our future, we must pair our traditional solidarity with an aggressive, forward-looking strategy.

To ensure this strategy reflects the immediate needs of our musicians, the AFM International Executive Board (IEB) recently launched a comprehensive feedback initiative. Earlier this year, we emailed you a membership survey, which we paired with a series of listening sessions with local leadership across the United States and Canada. While we didn’t get to every local, we are deeply committed to continuing these listening sessions throughout the summer.

The message sent back to us was loud and clear: our technology is out of date, locals need more resources to organize new work, and organizing new work should be the number one priority.

• Organizing New Work: Specifically, 35% of members stated that organizing should be our absolute top priority, followed by negotiating contracts and agreements at 26%.
• Industry Concerns: Our members are deeply concerned about the economic landscape—49% reported that things are “getting worse” for musicians these days, while only 17% feel the industry is “getting better.”
• A Desire to Get Involved: In an encouraging demonstration of solidarity, a massive 25% of members declared: “I am willing to volunteer my time to help organize more employers and get them onto contract.”

Expanding Our Resources

The survey results confirm what the IEB has long recognized. Over the past three years, we have already been actively tracking toward these very goals. Translating this vision into measurable growth, the AFM has begun the move beyond support roles to build a more active organizing model—expanding field resources and developing tools to empower musicians and locals:

• Symphonic Services Department (SSD): We actively expanded our infrastructure by adding dedicated negotiators to defend our orchestral musicians.
• Field Services Department: We rebuilt the field services department, fully staffing it with six international representatives (IRs), and added an IR specializing in local compliance and fiduciary responsibility.
• Freelance Services Department: We’re expanding the department’s reach, adding staff, and investing in digital infrastructure to scale up services for freelance musicians. This increased capacity directly supports the growth of our freelance sector, anchored by the newly recognized Freelance Musicians Association (FMA) player conference.
• Organizing Department: We scaled up operations to an expanded organizing services framework capable of balancing high-density theatrical hubs with the realities of regional touring circuits and unique Canadian labor environments.

The detailed department reports are available in the 2025 Annual Report in the members.AFM.org Document Library.

Planning Our Next Chapter

Providing resources to meet immediate needs is only the first step. To secure our union’s future for the next generation, we must move beyond temporary support and permanently fortify our capacity.

Based on the clear mandate from the membership survey and listening sessions, the IEB has unanimously put forth five recommendations (published in the May issue of the International Musician). These measures will modernize how we do business, inject fresh resources into our locals, and allow us to prioritize aggressive new organizing and communications strategies.

In his column on page 4, Secretary-Treasurer Ken Shirk details how true organizing requires real resources, people, and a structural pivot. The IEB’s recommendations are designed to fund and enforce this framework. I strongly encourage all members, and especially our convention delegates, to read Secretary-Treasurer Shirk’s message for a deep dive into how Recommendation No. 1 and Recommendation No. 2 provide the financial and strategic capacity to organize the thousands of independent musicians who belong in our ranks.

Defining the Future

Right now, the Federation is actively engaged in some of the most critical contract battles and defensive campaigns in our history. We continue to address the threat of artificial intelligence both legislatively and at the bargaining table in our current Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA) negotiations—demanding ironclad contract protections regarding consent, compensation, and credit for machine learning models. Furthermore, we are already structuring our strategy for the upcoming Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) negotiations in 2027, establishing a united front to ensure that musicians’ work used in motion picture, streaming, and television is fiercely protected against digital exploitation.

While we continue to protect our members on major stages and in recording studios, the AFM’s ultimate growth relies on championing independent freelance creators—building a forward-looking union that values every gig, contract, and musician.

If we want a vibrant future, we must shift from a defensive posture to an offensive strategy. Whether a member is performing on a symphonic stage, playing in a theater pit, recording for a major motion picture, or navigating the independent club circuit, they deserve a union that is as dynamic as the art they create. Every working musician in the United States and Canada needs to be able to instantly recognize the AFM, identify a local they can join, and clearly understand how we improve their economic bottom line.

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