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.
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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.
May 28, 2015
IM -US District Judge Philip Gutierrez granted a motion for a class action lawsuit over SiriusXM’s performance of pre-1972 sound recordings. The lawsuit will cover anyone who owns a pre-1972 sound recording that’s been played on the satellite radio service after August 21, 2009. According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, the company reported more than $4 billion in revenue in 2014, with about 10% to 15% attributed to pre-1972 recordings.
SiriusXM tried to assert that because there isn’t any federal registration scheme governing pre-1972 recordings, it is hard to determine who owns what. While the plaintiffs agreed there is a need for a music licensing service to identify owners of the recordings, they identified SoundExchange, Evan M. Greenspan, Inc., and Music Reports, Inc. as entities with databases that could assist.
Gutierrez wrote: “class members can reliably identify themselves because SiriusXM has a record of the individual pre-1972 recordings that it has performed since August 21, 2009,” that “owners of the listed recordings can easily self-identify,” and “that challenges by Sirius XM will be rare because Sirius XM itself does not own recording rights or track pre-1972 recording ownership rights.”