Tag Archives: alan willaert

WCMA
Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

While Talks with WCMA Hit a Wall, New CBC Agreement Comes to Fruition

The Canadian Office continues to bargain with music festivals, award shows, and music industry events, with a view to having all such work under a union scale agreement. We were successful recently in negotiations with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), who each year present the Juno Awards, along with several days of young artists performing live in venues surrounding the host city. The three-year deal represents significant enhancements, including a pension and a streaming component that is separate from the broadcast deal. We are currently working on a similar agreement with the Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMA), another major event held in a different Canadian city each year. Saskatoon is the choice for 2017.

WCMA Stalemate

In pursuing what is best for musicians, we have run into the proverbial brick wall with the West Coast Music Alliance (WCMA), which since merging its event with both the Western and Prairie Music Awards, has hosted a festival and awards week called Breakout West. After several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a more than reasonable agreement, the WCMA has refused to come back to the table.

There is much more at stake than making sure the awards show and live streaming are properly contracted and paid. Inexplicably, the position the negotiators took was: “Musicians should not think of Breakout West as a paid gig. They should consider it a networking opportunity.” In other words, showcasing at the event pays zero. There is no payment, no pension, and no protection against unauthorized recording and streaming.

Yet the organization receives roughly a half-million dollars in government grants and private sponsorship, let alone what it charges for admission and participation. Where does all that money go? Therefore, the CFM office had no choice but to request placement of the West Coast Music Alliance, and its board of directors, on the AFM International Unfair List. Members must not perform at, or in association with the Breakout West event in September 2017. While we continue to be open to bargaining, we are committed to all the pressure we can administer in an effort to bring fairness to this unconscionable working environment.

New CBC Agreement

On a more positive note, after two years of on/off bargaining, a new agreement has been reached with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Along with substantial increases in fees, there are now residual payments on underscore and themes for episodic and dramatic series, along with older programming from the CBC archives (subject to limitations). Our agreement with Canada’s public broadcaster remains the only union contract to contain a guarantee of yearly expenditure.

Final language will be completed in the next few weeks, followed by the ratification process. I would like to personally thank members of the CFM negotiating committee, who dedicated many days of their time to ensure a fair deal for our members. They are: Eddy Bayens, president of Local 390 (Edmonton, AB); Doug Kuss, secretary-treasurer of Local 547 (Calgary, AB); Michael Murray, executive director of Local 149 (Toronto, ON); Francine Shutzman, of OCSM  and president of Local 180 (Ottawa, ON); Robin Moir, secretary-treasurer of Local 180; Luc Fortin, president of Local 406; and Varun Vyas, secretary-treasurer of Local 571. Also special thanks to Canadian Office staff members Executive Director Liana White, Administration Director Susan Whitfield, Contract Administrator Dan Calabrese, and Symphonic Services Canada Director Bernard Leblanc.

SoundExchange Acquires CMRRA

Of interest to Canadian artists and publishers, SoundExchange has acquired the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA). For many years, CMRRA collected mechanical rights for artists and also handled synchronization rights. But for the past few years, CMRRA passed that responsibility along to the Canadian Music Publishers Association (CMPA). SoundExchange, now the largest Collective Management Organization (CMO) in the world, is expected to keep the operations separate, at least for the time being. Watch for more information in this regard.

Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

Small Spark of Hope for Ontario Status

The 420-page final report Ontario’s The Changing Workplaces Review, by C. Michael Mitchel and John C. Murray, was released in late May. As previously reported, the review is designed to provide a framework for upcoming changes to the Ontario Employment Standards Act and the Ontario Labour Relations Act. The CFM provided submissions and recommendations, specifically stressing that musicians are not sufficiently protected under existing laws, and that the only resolve for a largely freelance community is provincial status of the artist legislation. To that end, our submissions included a comprehensive comparison of federal status and Quebec status, as well as suggested language.

While arts and entertainment was certainly not centre stage in the review, it did find its way into the report in section 11.6.3, page 364, describing how artist groups have “… urged us to adopt some of the philosophy and general approaches of the Quebec status of the artist act, modified to some degree …” While no direct credit is given to the CFM, footnote 498 is a direct reference, stating “… very late in the process, we received a draft model act from one group but there was no opportunity to discuss it, much less consult with respect to its contents …”

On the negative side, the employers have been working hard at recommending the status quo. For example, the Canadian Media Producers’ Association (CMPA) made this statement: “… the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), which is involved in English language television, film, and digital media production, has warned us about the high costs of the Quebec system, including constant negotiations, labour relations instability and competition, and a lack of certainty, which is antithetical to the needs of a project-oriented, time-sensitive industry … the association argues that the sector is already heavily unionized, highly organized on a craft and sectoral basis, and successfully serves the needs of the various interest groups and, therefore, should not be interfered with.”

More importantly, the report goes on to seemingly disregard the CMPA and finalize the section with this recommendation: “… that Ontario conduct an inquiry and consultation with all affected interest groups to examine potential changes to the laws, which affect how personal services and labour are provided in the arts and entertainment sectors of the economy, for the purposes of supporting the artistic endeavour in those sectors and those who work in them.” While consisting of only a small speck in a large document, this capsulizes the most significant recognition of artists’ dilemma with collective bargaining to date, and with it, a glimmer of hope.

CFM General Counsel Alan Minsky generously summarized other aspects of the report. Proposed changes include:

1) Raising the general minimum wage to $15 an hour by January 1, 2019.

2) Changing various features of union certification and first contract dispute resolution procedures, including:

  • extending card-based certification to the temporary help agency industry, the building services sector, and the home care and community services industry, where a union can show 55% support in the proposed bargaining unit;
  • allowing unions to access employee lists and obtain employee contact information where they can show 20% support in the proposed bargaining unit;
  • making access to remedial certification and first contract arbitration easier, giving the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) more power to ensure votes are conducted fairly, and allow telephone and electronic voting;
  • providing just cause protection from the date of certification to the date of the first collective agreement.

3) Important changes to regulations governing unions, including:

  • successor rights for building services contracts;
  • empowering the OLRB to consolidate bargaining units;
  • strengthened protections for striking workers, including grievable just cause protection and a right to priority in rehire, even where a strike exceeds six months;
  • increased penalties for violating the Labour Relations Act;
  • reviewing exemptions to the Labour Relations Act (no immediate changes are set out in legislation).
  • 4) Improvements to minimum employment standards,
    including:
  • three weeks of paid vacation for employees with five or more years of service;
  • changes to simplify public holiday pay calculations and clarify how overtime is calculated when an employee has multiple jobs with the same employer;
  • equal pay for part-time, casual, temporary, and seasonal workers relative to full-time workers performing the same work, and for temporary help agency workers relative to permanent workers, subject to certain exceptions;
  • enhancements to Personal Emergency Leave (PEL) and other leave provisions;
  • new scheduling protections for workers;
  • several changes to Employment Standards Act exemptions and a review process for remaining exemptions.

5) Measures to provide better enforcement of employment standards, including combatting the misclassification of employees as independent contractors.

Now begins the process of providing Ontario locals with a script with which to go to their MPP and make the most of this slim opportunity to add compulsive collective bargaining as a component to the CFM toolbox.

Blockchain
Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

Coming Soon: A Blockchain Copyright System

Three of the world’s most significant collection societies—ASCAP (US), SACEM (France), and PRS for Music (UK)—are working together on a project designed to improve the future of music copyright management. According to an article in Music Business Weekly, they have announced the building of a blockchain system, which could manage the links between music recordings International Standard Recording Codes
(ISRCs) and music work International Standard Work Codes (ISWCs). Blockchain is a software platform, a protocol for managing digital assets. Their website is www.blockchain.com.

A recent ASCAP press release stated: “Establishing robust links between these two pieces of data (ISRCs and ISWCs), offers a practical solution with enormous potential for improving the processes of royalty matching, which will in turn speed up licensing, reduce errors, and reduce costs. The goal of the project is to prototype how the music industry could create and adopt a shared, decentralized database of musical work metadata with real-time update and tracking capabilities.”

Working with IBM, the partnership plans to leverage the open source blockchain technology from the Linux Foundation, Hyperledger Fabric, to match, aggregate, and qualify existing links between ISRCs and ISWCs in order to confirm correct ownership information and conflicts. Blockchain is used in payments systems, noted for its ability to manage records without centralized governance. This valuable characteristic will be utilized to resolve issues between conflicting identifiers for the same work across multiple rights holders.

Jean-Noël Tronc, SACEM’s chief executive officer, has a vision “to ensure a diverse and sustainable future for music, where creators are rewarded efficiently for their work.” He went on to say, “Through this partnership, we aim to develop new blockchain-based technologies that will tackle a long-standing issue with music industry metadata—a problem that has grown more acute as online music rights distribution has become increasingly decentralized with the rise in digital channels. By developing this blockchain technology in partnership with ASCAP and PRS for Music, we will unlock value to the benefit of music creators worldwide.”

Elizabeth Matthews, ASCAP’s chief executive officer, noted that the music industry “has been calling for greater transparency and accuracy.” Blockchain has the ability to capture real-time data and transaction updates that can be shared with multiple parties. While the data improves, the costs of administration will diminish, leaving a greater percentage for distribution to the rights holders.

Robert Ashcroft, PRS for Music’s chief executive, added: “Establishing authoritative copyright data has long been a goal of PRS for Music and is one of the biggest challenges the industry faces.” The digital market requires real-time reporting on behalf of multiple stakeholders across the world, if the goal is to increase accuracy of royalty payments and release value for rightsholders.

If none of this makes sense to you, try to imagine the number of times a given song may be used somewhere in the world, and for the sake of argument, in a given year. A young person in Australia may synch the song to a homemade video, and post it; a music supervisor in California decides to use the song in a movie or it’s streamed a few million times by that many listeners. In each case, revenue should be generated for the rightsholders. In a paper world, it’s impossible.

However, the technology exists to accurately monitor and track each use, using algorithms. And now—using blockchain protocols—this data could be centrally stored and linked, and a methodology derived to instantly identify and distribute revenue to the rights holders.

We have long known that copyright was broken with the advent of the Internet. It appears that at long last, the system will be catching up to address proper monetization of what were before, illegal and unpaid uses. The sad part is, the technology has been there a while, but the will to utilize it was not. We have apparently turned that corner, for the benefit of musicians everywhere.

Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

CFM Focuses on Festival/Award Show Negotiations

Members were recently advised that the newly-negotiated agreement with the East Coast Music Association was overwhelmingly ratified. This was the first time in many years that the Canadian Office was directly involved with a primary labour dispute. While the necessity of such action is regrettable, status quo was not an option and neither was the absence of a workable agreement for musicians.

At the last meeting of the Canadian Conference in June 2016, the delegates were presented with some agreement templates suitable for use with festivals and award shows, particularly ones that change venue/city from year-to-year. While there is always room for negotiations, the conference deliberated on format language that could serve as the basis regardless of location. As a result, when the ECMA first indicated they were not interested in renewing the previous agreement, the CFM had no choice but use all means available to reverse that decision.

With the Juno Awards less than a month away, our office is on the verge of signing a national agreement, which—again according to Conference mandate—would follow Junofest to wherever the event will take place in the next few years. Like the ECMA contract, we are working on pension being applicable to the showcase performances, as well as contracted events and the award show.

We have also entered into negotiations with the Western Canadian Music Alliance, with a view to establishing an agreement to cover the Break-Out West festival, which takes place in the fall. This year, it travels to Edmonton, Alberta. At the crux of these negotiations is the fact that this festival has evolved into a “networking” opportunity, making this a nonpaid event. Again, status quo is not an option and having no agreement in place to protect the musicians is unacceptable.

Next up will be the Canadian Country Music Association, with their event taking place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, later on this year. We have just begun to make contact, again with a view to establishing a mobile, national agreement.

While I am ex officio as a member of the negotiating team, our Standards Committee has come up with a workable format to spread the workload of bargaining. Therefore, International Representative Allistair Elliott will also serve, along with an officer from the host city where the event takes place in the current year, as well as officers from the previous and next host cities.

It’s important to understand how these negotiations impact upon you, the members. Without a CFM negotiated agreement in place, there would be no minimum standard fee. Without a CFM agreement, pension could not be paid. And finally, without a media agreement outlining the parameters of what can be recorded, for what purpose, and at what additional fee, there would be no control over ownership, replays, or other new uses of the tracks.

These events are also popular venues for emerging artists, many of them not yet AFM members. In Canada, we are able to extend our umbrella to protect them by establishing a Temporary Membership Permit (a version of the Rand Formula), which allows nonmembers to work under a union contract, if they pay a fair share of the cost.

Of particular importance is pension. While the subject matter of a retirement fund is a conversation most young musicians are not willing to have, we must bear in mind that our pension is a reality because of past generations of musicians who contracted for and negotiated pension into their contracts, in order to ensure that future members would have a comfortable retirement. The responsibility lies upon each of us to do the same for ourselves and generations to come. By not contracting for pension, you are letting the employer escape an obligation, and making it difficult for our pension to survive through a poor investment market. Please do your fair share so that we all may benefit for years to come.

The CFM is committed to establishing agreements with all festivals and award shows that feature live performance of musicians to establish fair wages, pension, and a level playing field for all musicians. It’s the right thing to do.

Copyright
Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

Music Policy Coalition: A United Voice for Copyright Reform

The CFM, in preparation for the five-year review of Canada’s Copyright Act, is a part of a number of music industry coalitions. One of these groups is the Music Policy Coalition (MPC), bringing together the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN); Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA); Canada’s Neighbouring Rights Collective (Re:Sound); the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA); Québec Association for the Recording, Concert and Video Industries (ADISQ); Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC); and Union des Artistes (UDA), to name a few.

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isoHunt
Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

isoHunt Settles as Five-Year Copyright Act Review Approaches

In the upcoming five-year review of the Canadian Copyright Act, certainly one of the hot topics under scrutiny will be Internet service provider (ISP) liability. At the start of 2015, a new Canadian law came into effect called the “Notice and Notice” regime. It requires that all ISPs to forward copyright infringement notices to customers suspected of downloading unauthorized content like movies, TV shows, and music.

The purpose of the notice system is to discourage piracy. Some jurisdictions, including the US, as per its Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), employ the “Notice and Takedown” regime, whereby the infringing party is notified of the violation, but if infringement continues, the site is taken down.

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Digital Content Market
Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

The Global Digital Content Market

Being a newbie, sliding into my seat to listen to presentations on the global digital market in the main conference hall at WIPO headquarters in Geneva was like revisiting a university lecture hall. Except that, unlike a campus lecture, there were more than 1,000 registrations from 144 countries.

Now, on to what was learned. The creative industry represents more than 30 million jobs worldwide. The global music recording industry is worth US $15 billion. Revenue from digital sources grew to $6.8 billion and is now equal to those from physical sources, averaged across all markets. Yet, music is still in a state of flux as it struggles to adapt to the online era. Digital delivery decreases the cost of creating, distributing, and storing music, yet the remuneration to artists in this medium has not made up the difference from losses in physical sales.

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local 406
Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

Local 406 Is Back!

After what seems like years, I am pleased to report that a service agreement has been reached between La Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes du Quebec and the AFM, allowing them to continue as an important, vibrant part of the Federation. Difficulties had progressively mounted, as our third largest local, Local 406, was straddled with the overwhelming obligations of representing all musicians in the province under Status of the Artist.

In addition, Local 406 could not just compel producers to sign onto existing AFM agreements, as other laws require a “made in Quebec” solution, which was made even more complex with language laws. These unique circumstances were ultimately addressed by the International Executive Board, resulting in an arrangement that allows more flexibility for the local, while maintaining their charter in the AFM.

Special thanks go out to both AFM International President Ray Hair and the Local 406 team, led by President Luc Fortin. To their credit, they showed tremendous patience and understanding, which allowed for the necessary dialogue and the resulting solution.

Music Supervisors Summit

local 406Several weeks ago, an incident occurred involving our New Use Department that led to a decision, which has echoed through most of the production houses in Toronto. At the core, was a request for paper backup to substantiate new use fees on a popular tune from the 1960s.

As always, the client was in a hurry for a final quote, and our office knew that it would take many days, perhaps weeks, to track down a contract from 50 years ago. Knowing the band was AFM, and knowing the label was signatory (Warner), our team went online to determine how many musicians were on the track. We quickly responded to the production company with the answer—four musicians (five units), and gave them the fee.

That should have been the end. However, the company refused to acknowledge that the track was AFM unless we produced the B4 report form. Knowing that would take time, we instead obtained the “label copy” from Warner and were, of course, able to identify each musician on the album. Still, that was not satisfactory.

I started to become fearful that there was a game at play. Did the producers realize that on a track that old, we could very likely be chasing paper for some time? By stating that without the B4 there was no proof it was an AFM product, they could potentially pocket the fees paying nothing to the musicians who did the recording. For me, such a notion is incredibly unacceptable. Also, we met the burden of proof in other ways, as did Warner. So, I then made the decision to cease providing a copy of the B4, to anyone, period. After all, it’s an internal document, resulting from an agreement between the labels and the AFM. A third party should not be entitled access to a document containing wages, pension, and Social Security or Social Insurance Numbers.

When informed of my new policy, the production company, of course, was extremely upset. In what appeared to be a search in support for their cause, the company then reached out to other music supervisors, the jingle agencies, and even the major labels. Copies of the Master Licence Agreements issued by the labels were obtained to determine exactly what language tied the licensee (producer) to paying new use fees to the AFM. When the dust settled, a meeting of all concerned was scheduled in downtown Toronto, ostensibly to challenge my decision, and possibly to the extent of challenging the labels’ licence language, and the validity of new use.

Contract Administrator for Canada Daniel Calabrese and New Use Administrator James Gadon attended, along with myself, as the presenter for the AFM. The turnout was surprising. There were more than 50 attending in person, with SAG-AFTRA representatives Skyped in from Los Angeles. The meeting lasted in excess of two hours.

SAG-AFTRA presented first, followed by the labels; it was then CFM’s turn. I prefaced the question period with a brief history of the SRLA, the rationale for new use payments, and the fact that similar requirements live in all our scale agreements. I also detailed the setup of our ramped-up new use department, new servers, contract scanning procedures, and link with Los Angeles as our view was to deliver a new use quote in minutes, not days or weeks.

We answered all questions quickly and succinctly, and in the end, not one music supervisor dared to suggest that the musicians did not deserve new use fees for having their music synchronized or repurposed. In fact, all comments directed at the CFM were positive. It seems our quotes and responses were understood and very well received. All were left with the knowledge that we’re approachable and easy to work with. Indeed, good news to our team.

I believe the meeting was a major step forward in having a working relationship with the city’s music supervisors, and a reminder to them that tracks must be cleared through our office. In addition, dialogue that occurred with the major labels prior to the meeting, as well as after, was a positive step toward developing a sustainable rhythm in the process of tracking, billing, collecting, and disbursing new use fees to our members.

Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

The Music Business—Machine or Eco-System?

My friend, Local 149 (Toronto, ON). Senior Business Rep Dan Broome has bad days and good days—in other words, he ranges from highly intelligent to genius. One of his theories is that music is an eco-system, which upon reflection, is accurate.

Theorizing that musicians and their product are the “roots” of the system, we can easily visualize what comprises the various branches and leaves. For instance, musicians require instruments. One branch would represent the manufacturers, the leaves are their employees, the transportation and distribution network, the music stores and sales team, related accessories, and repairs. That branch alone represents literally thousands of industry people.

Consider the recording studio branch. Aside from engineers, techs, and office staff, we have the folks that master the recording, manufacturers of recording gear, microphones, cabling, tape/memory, amps and all related products, distribution, and human resources. Again, this represents literally thousands of people that rely on musicians.

The broadcast industry is another huge branch. Hundreds of radio stations, web, and streaming sites, the DJs (both on-air and in private business), and the thousands of folks working in media depend on the musicians’ product. Advertisers and the products that depend on wide exposure are an extension of this industry.

The live music scene is a support mechanism for a myriad of offshoot businesses, from the companies that produce liquor and beer, tables, chairs, and other ancillary products to the bartenders, waitresses, cleaning staff, and taxis that rely on wobbly patrons looking for a safe lift home.

It’s easy now to extrapolate and project the billions of dollars generated annually in Canada by music and various tertiary industries that rely upon it. Why then is the average income of a musician in this country barely $15K? We need to examine what’s broken with the system.

The “fruit” growing from the branches represents the tremendous amount of money generated. The “farmers” are the recording labels, venue owners, streaming companies, festival promoters, etc. As in any interdependent society, some of the fruit should be left to feed the roots and reseed the industry, in other words, to share the profits with the source—the musicians. Failure to reinvest in any business leads inevitably to failure.

Unfortunately, the employers we deal with have a far different view of the music industry. I have often visualized an inept government, or charity, where billions of dollars are fed into one end of a giant machine, and out of a pipe at the other end drops a nickel for the public—or in this case, the musician. The employers, and their insatiable desire for ever-increasing profit margins, clearly operate similar to this machine model. Without a fair share of the profits going to the “roots,” the eco-system must inevitably die. Musicians seek other types of work to subsist, which then deteriorates their skills and the resulting product. Or, they make a career decision not to enter the industry at all, which also leads to system collapse.

Also unfortunate is the fact that more musicians will come along who are willing to work longer hours, for less money or free, further perpetuating the greedy ways of the employers. The obvious answer is collective action. When you record or perform live, always make sure you are paid what you are worth and never below scale or without a contract. That’s the only way to force employers to abandon the “machine” model and embrace their responsibility to help sustain music’s eco-system.

Liberal Government Repeals Bills

Unions throughout Canada are pleased that the federal government has tabled legislation to repeal controversial bills C-377 and C-525. These bills were designed to weaken unions by forcing redundant and unreasonable financial reporting, and by making it more difficult for Canadians in federally-regulated workplaces to join a union.

These bills were nothing more than an attempt to undermine unions’ ability to do important work like protecting jobs, promoting health and safety in the workplace, and advocating on behalf of all Canadian workers.

Bill C-377 was pushed through Parliament by the last government in June 2015, despite loud opposition from many different groups, including the NHL Players Association, Conservative and Liberal senators, constitutional experts, Canada’s privacy commissioner, the Canadian Bar Association, and the insurance and mutual fund industry. Minister Mihychuk should be commended for her leadership in repealing this legislation and restoring a balanced labour relations framework for federal workers.

unity conference
Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

Unity Conference Offers Valuable Union Insights to Attendees

The annual Canadian Conference, which took place in Windsor, Ontario, August 7-9, was special this year as it was a Unity Conference, held in conjunction with the Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians (OCSM). The two conferences normally have significantly different agendas. While the attendees to each come from different backgrounds and have completely different roles, they are all connected by one common denominator— membership in the AFM.

Meeting new people and building relationships is so very important in music, yet much of that personal contact has given way to social media contact. While the Internet is tremendously valuable, it cannot take the place of one-on-one conversations. This was an opportunity to get back to basics, learn each other’s role in the industry, take advantage of the networking possibilities, and learn from diverse thinking in problem-solving exercises.

There were presentations from Local 145 (Vancouver, BC) and Local 406 (Montreal, PQ) to help the delegates better understand the current lack of film scoring in Vancouver and the unique circumstances involved in bargaining in the province of Quebec. Both spawned considerable after-hours dialogue, resulting in at least one resolution to form a committee to address the changing film scoring scene and review the existing scoring agreements. While a primary concern of the Vancouver local, Quebec also has a huge vested interest in the possibility of attracting scoring from Europe and other French-speaking areas. In addition, there are other francophone communities in Canada that are a market for this content.

While many topics were discussed, one of the most urgent was work at festival and trade show events where, while live music is often centric, musicians are largely unpaid, yet recorded and broadcast on cable or Internet. Another was the status of freelance players who are not covered by collective agreements. While they represent the largest sector of the membership, they are also the most vulnerable to exploitation, unpaid gigs, and unauthorized recording, and therefore deserving of far more AFM attention and specific services. That said, our freelance musicians and self-contained bands are the most difficult to organize, since the concept of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) or collective actions are foreign to them. For the most part, they find their own shows, market to their specific fan base, produce and distribute their own recordings, and seldom give a thought to utilizing AFM contracts for any of it.

An area of particular concern to the OCSM delegates was the erosion of CBC remotes. In previous years, each orchestra looked forward to at least a half-dozen broadcasts, which would both significantly increase the revenue on the gig, and generate interest in classical music among listeners. With the government’s slashing of funding and subsequent budget cuts, the CBC is left airing existing commercial recordings. The OCSM Media Committee, along with representatives from the CFM, is looking at creative options.

One of the highlights of the conference was the address by AFM President Ray Hair. An information-packed PowerPoint show began with the formation of the AFM, its roots, opponents, and raison d’être. While touching on the evolution of the Federation, it outlined the current agreements in place with employers—both US and Canada—and progress that has been achieved in the area of performance rights, regulations, and negotiations with other countries, ensuring proper compensation for commercial uses of North American music. Hair continued, describing attempts at union-busting (unfortunately, much from within), as well as the solidarity necessary to overcome, adapt, and prevail. He further used the AFM’s controversy with the Musicians’ Rights Organization of Canada (MROC), in its initial stages, as an example of the benefits to members that could be accomplished with dialogue and patience.

Any Conference loaded with that much information, controversy, and constructive communication must be deemed a success, and the contributing factor, in no small part, was the careful planning and flawless execution by the officers and members of Local 566 (Windsor, ON). Special thanks to Secretary Lynne Wilson-Bradoc and President Chris Borshuk for their hard work, attention to detail, and of course, the presentation of some of the finest musicians in the Essex-Kent area.

It was also pleasing to note many musicians attending as visitors from the local, as well as local officers. Special thanks to Local 802 (New York City) President Tino Gagliardi and Local 5 (Detroit, MI) President George Troia for attending and acting as resources for delegates. Members are always welcome and encouraged to attend these events to gain greater insight and see solidarity in action.

Pour la version francaise, cliquez ici.