Protect Yourself and Your Intellectual Property with an AFM Recording Contract!

September 1, 2024

Dave Pomeroy  -  International Vice President and President of Local 257 (Nashville, TN)

Imagine a world without music. Things would be very different, to say the least. Music plays so many roles in our daily lives. It may be easy to take it for granted, but those of us who have been able to make a living doing what we love will never do that. As professional musicians, we have a unique set of skills that can bring together people who have very little in common. That is the power of music. But we have to take care of business if we want to continue being able to do what we love as a profession.

More than ever, it is now nearly impossible to predict what song or artist will become an overnight sensation. Indie artists who create their own following in various ways are making deals with the major labels, which no longer invest in artist development the way they used to. Whether recorded in a bedroom or major studio, a recording has the capability of reaching a huge audience like never before. This is why it is more important than ever to protect your work by making sure it is covered by an AFM recording contract.

There was a time when almost all recording happened in a handful of cities, but that is certainly no longer the case. Make no mistake, there is recording going on in the jurisdiction of every single AFM local. It’s our job to help musicians understand that when they work without a contract, what they make that day is all they will ever make from that recording. On the other hand, when you protect your work by using an appropriate AFM contract, the future earning potential of your work is preserved and can be turned on at any time.

We have countless examples of decades old recordings being rediscovered and used in movies, television, and commercials. Because they were originally done under AFM contracts, we were able to pursue, and get, new use payments for the musicians. And if they had passed away, we sent the payments to their beneficiaries. This is the very definition of intellectual property. The process of protecting your rights begins with you. Don’t be afraid to ask for your work to be covered on an AFM contract. It is sometimes possible to clean things up afterward, but it is much more efficient to get it right from the beginning.

Over the past few years, we have been working with the AFM Electronic Media Services Division (EMSD) to create “tool kits” for our various media agreements which highlight and break down different options available. These condensed summaries make it easier to get to the pertinent information about rates, permitted uses, and more, without having to look it up in the larger master agreements, which are essential but a bit unwieldy.

Once pertinent information has been collected and filed on an AFM contract, the “digital paper trail” begins. This information is used to verify pension payments, residuals from the Sound Recording Special Payments Fund, AFM SAG-AFTRA Fund, Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund, and more.

The music we create has value that can go far beyond your initial payment. When you get your work on the right AFM contract, your intellectual property is protected. You may get no credit at all for additional uses and airplay if you can’t be identified. Don’t make the mistake of letting your work fall through the cracks. Doing it right the first time is more than worth the extra effort.

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