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Electronic Media Services Division
Electronic Media Services, International Musician

Getting to Know the EMSD Staff

As we so frequently get caught up in the day-to-day grind of business and the pursuit of agreements and payments, it can be difficult to make time to get to know each other. The following EMSD “who’s who” puts faces to the names and summarizes job responsibilities for our Electronic Media Services Division (EMSD) staff. 

Electronic Media Services Division

Pat Varriale: Director of the EMSD, Pat has been with the AFM for 44 years. He is “all things electronic media,” specializing in all facets of the Sound Recording Labor Agreement, National Public Television, National Public Radio, Limited Pressing, Demonstration Recording, and Background Music agreements.

Maria Warner-Dowrich: Contract administrator for EMSD New York, Maria administers commercial announcements including commercial new use, sound recording low budget, theme park, and limited pressings. She’s worked for the Federation for almost 10 years, eight of them with EMSD.

EMSD Staff

Kim Wysocki: Administrative assistant to Pat, Kim assists in processing and entry of Commercial Announcements Agreements and assumption agreements and provides assistance in signatory renewals. She also researches the CDs received from record companies and performs initial research on commercial new use projects.

Alyson Sheehan: In her first year with the Federation, Alyson works in billing and collection of sound recordings and theatrical motion picture scores in commercial announcements. In addition, she assists Pat in special projects and the editing of various agreements.

grant gerhart

Grant Gerhart: Grant assists EMSD New York on the research, billing, and collection of sound recordings and theatrical motion picture scores in commercial announcements, as well as other administrative duties.

Aksinia Dintcheva: Aksinia works tirelessly in the New Use department to create B-7 contracts and billings. A University of Georgia graduate, she has been working in the EMSD for 18 years. 

Andie Childs: Andie manages historical soundtracks, projects involving film-to-film clip use, as well as spreadsheets and dispersals for compilation projects and programs. 

Andre Shavers: In charge of collections for the New Use department, Andre pursues payment for billings generated by Peter Marroquin and company. He also oversees notices for work dues payments.

Bryan Vasquez: A researcher in the Sound Recording to Theatrical and Television Film New Use Department, Bryan identifies the use of AFM sound recordings in film media and prepares billing packets used for invoicing. He has worked for the AFM for seven years.

Chris DeLeon: Chris assists the New Use department by generating B-7 forms, as well as handling local tech issues in the West Coast Office.   

Mary Beth Blakey: Mary Beth is contract administrator covering television videotape, basic cable television, Internet and new media, and video games. She has been working in the EMSD for eight years. 

Matt Allen: As contract administrator, Matt handles motion pictures and television films, as well as low budget, student, festival, and industrial films. He initially administered the SRLA for Local 47. After moving to EMSD in 2001, he managed commercial new use before moving to film agreements.

michael stogner

Michael Stogner: New to the Sound Recording to Theatrical and Television Film New Use Department, Michael confirms the contact information for production companies and generates the billing letters to collect new use payments. He is also department archivist.

Ray Kalantarian: New to the Sound Recording to Theatrical and Television Film New-Use Department, Ray follows up with production companies via phone and/or email after sound recording new use invoices are submitted for payment.

sandra leon

Sandra Leon: The newest researcher in the Sound Recording to Theatrical and Television Film New Use Department, Sandra monitors and analyzes film media to identify the new use of AFM sound recordings and prepares the billing packets for invoicing.

Peter Marroquin: Manager of the Sound Recording to Theatrical and Television Film New Use Department, Peter also handles the management and storage of data for the office. He has been with the AFM for 25 years.

b-4 reports
Electronic Media Services, International Musician

CDs and B-4 Report Forms Ensure Your Projects Are Covered

by Kim Wysocki, Administrative Assistant AFM Electronic Media Services Division

The importance of our CD Jacket Program has continued to grow over the years. Securing the release of all sound recording product (including box sets, anniversary packages, deluxe editions), which usually contain live and previously unreleased material, keeps this department busy. Coordinating the proper filing of B-4 forms for these recordings, as well as all recordings done under the Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA) is as vital as ever.

This office continues to pursue major record companies, including numerous covered labels and independent labels signed to the SRLA, in obtaining CDs, label copies, and any other information (including from digital releases), which are then researched by our department. When this process is complete, we share the information we gather with the AFM locals under whose jurisdiction the recordings took place.

We work together to ensure that B-4 reports were filed (including hours worked, doubles, overdubs), as well as make sure a current signatory is in place. We continue to coordinate our efforts with SAG-AFTRA, the pension fund, and the Sound Recording Special Payments Fund (SPF) to ensure that musicians are properly credited and receive proper wages and pension for their work. This also ensures they will receive payments from the SPF for the next five years. In addition, the proper filing of B-4 report forms helps us to facilitate new use payments, if the recordings are utilized in motion pictures, television films, and/or commercial announcements.

Advertising agencies representing numerous advertisers contact EMSD on a daily basis. They inquire as to whether or not a track was recorded under an AFM agreement and if the appropriate session reports were filed. Once our office locates these reports, a new use billing packet is prepared and submitted to the agency.

The volume of sound recordings used in commercial announcements continues to grow. Musicians are reaping the benefits of these new use payments. We rely on you, the musicians, to be proactive in making sure that your original work is done under AFM conditions and that session reports are filed. The filing of these forms is essential and benefits every musician. Musicians who perform on recordings should see to it that they are properly listed for their work on AFM B-4 report forms. This facilitates smoother new use billing procedures. If you have any doubts as to whether or not a given project is covered under the SRLA and if B-4 reports will be prepared, please contact your local or the AFM.

EMSD has a scanning procedure in place to ensure that all report forms received by this office for any and all work performed under AFM agreements are stored in our system, thereby making them readily accessible. We also have an electronic CD jacket file (provided by the pension fund), which enables us to access information as needed.

All in all, the more information we have on file, the better equipped we are to serve and assist you. Locals should continue to send the AFM copies of any and all B report forms and music preparation invoices. And, if you hear from any contractor or leader that they possess a history of B forms that they would like to discard, please tell them not to. Rather, they should send them to the AFM. We will make good use of them.

gertz
Member Profiles

Boston Jazz Bassist Bruce Gertz Walks the Walk

Bassist Bruce Gertz of Local 9-535 (Boston, MA) is a renowned educator, performer, and composer who has written several books on technique.

Bruce Gertz has been on the Boston jazz scene for 42 years. A bassist, composer, and producer, he’s also an educator, joining a coterie of top players on the faculty of his alma mater, the Berklee College of Music.    

The Local 9-535 (Boston, MA) member picked up the guitar at age 10. “I kept playing in the lower register, the bottom four strings.” At 14, he switched to the electric bass, saying, “The bass always felt so good to me. I could feel those vibrations in my gut.”

In 1966, he bought a classic Fender Precision for $245 from a music store in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. At age 16, when he was playing blues and rock, a bandmate gave him the Charles Mingus record, Blues and Roots, and Gertz became captivated by its jazz style. “I listened to it a thousand times. A jazz guy playing blues. I heard blues in a whole other way. He played so powerfully,” says Gertz.   

The upright bass became his focus when he had the opportunity to take lessons from a classical bassist in Boston. That eventually led to an audition at Berklee. Gertz taught ensembles during his senior year at Berklee, while playing on the local scene. His acoustic bass teacher John Neves often asked Gertz to sub for him when he doubled-booked gigs. On one such occasion, Gertz found himself on stage with Alan Dawson, Ray Bryant, Helen Humes, and none other than, Count Basie.

Gertz spent six years studying advanced improvisation with jazz guru Charlie Banacos, renowned for his ear-training methods. Gertz says, “One of his big things was transcription, a lot of [Local 802 (New York City) member] Ron Carter and Ray Brown. I’d transcribe lines, solos off records. It was a combination of analytical and ear-training—to see a microcosm of a form in eight beats of a bass line.”

Soon after graduation, then chair of the bass department and Local 9-535 member Rich Appleman hired Gertz who was by then accomplished in both acoustic and electric bass and known for his solos. Appleman had just added electric bass as a principal instrument to the curriculum.

Gertz has performed locally with Mick Goodrick (of Local 9-535), Mike Stern of Local 802, and longtime fellow Berklee professors George Garzone and Gary Burton, guesting with lead artists Bob Berg, Charles McPherson, Joe Lovano of Local 802, Bill Frisell of Local 802, Lee Konitz, Gil Evans, and John Abercrombie. Gertz has also toured with legends Billy Eckstine, Maynard Ferguson, and Dave Brubeck. He and celebrated Boston-based saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi have been playing together for 40 years.

As a composer, it was natural for Gertz to write every day. He’d been teaching for a while when he realized he had enough compositions and lessons for a textbook. His bestseller, “Walkin,’” wasfirst published in 1982. It was followed up by 22 Contemporary Melodic Studies for Electric Bass,
a book of études designed to enhance solo and improvisational technique.

The project was also a way to challenge his own reading skills, he says, “Itwas an experiment to write melodic material that was different than the bebop vocabulary, to give me some original melodies that would be unique and not sound like they were derived from anyone else.”

He’s written the compendium, Mastering the Bass (Books 1 and 2) and a method book for all instruments titled Let’s Play Rhythm. Complete with bass lines, grooves, and solo material, Gertz incorporates melodies—diatonic, rhythmic, pentatonic/blues scale, symmetric diminished, and upper structure triad and intervallic—and includes free-form style tracks of swing, funk, Latin, and open jazz for students to follow.

Along with his Berklee composition and improvisation classes, Gertz teaches high school students, usually ones bound for music schools. “Some love a theoretical approach,” he says. “They’ll try this diminished scale over this dominant chord—and then they listen to examples of Thelonious Monk using it in a melodic way.”

He explains, “You’re not going be able to play a stream of notes like Coltrane’s ‘sheets of sound,’ but you can take these little pieces that are playable on your instrument and make them into something fantastic.”

Teaching and playing are his focus, but his passion for composition has led to a prolific catalog containing some 200 recorded works. Gertz created his own label, Open Mind Jazz, under which he’s produced 15 albums since 2007.

At 65, Gertz has been recognized with awards from the International Association of Jazz Educators and the Jazz Education Network. He has also received numerous honors for outstanding bassist from the Boston Music Awards and ASCAP.

He still plays regularly, three to six times a week, alternately with his group Trio-Now, the Bruce Gertz quintet, a quartet, and as a sideman. Of the industry now, he says that, while having an online presence is essential and YouTube hits provide access, Gertz maintains, screens are two-dimensional. “Doing live gigs has energy, feedback from the audience. It’s a personal experience,” he says. 

streaming agreement
Electronic Media Services, International Musician

Finding the Correct AFM Streaming Agreement

by Mary Beth Blakey, AFM Electronic Media Services Division Contract Administrator

Assigning the correct EMSD agreement to streamed content can be a precarious enterprise. Business models and methods of consumption for streamed musical performances are subject to continuous change. The Federation’s streaming agreements are continuously evolving to respond to the industry. Outlined here are our four main streaming agreements and a brief overview of their terms and conditions. 

Live Streaming Agreement

The Live Streaming Agreement is to be used only for content streamed on a true live basis, simultaneous to the recorded event, with no content remaining available on a website or other streaming platform after the fact. The scales tied to this agreement are $100 per hour, per side musician, with a one-hour minimum. The required pension contribution is 14.17%, along with a $24 per day health and welfare payment. 

On-Demand Streaming Agreement

Under the On-Demand Streaming Agreement, an employer may stream content that remains available on-demand after the initial performance. The wages start at $197.20 per hour, per side musician, with a one-hour minimum. The required benefits are a pension contribution of 14.17% of wages, and a $24 per day health and welfare payment. The initial payments cover a six-month term of use on streaming platforms, with 6.6% aggregate payment of gross receipts required every six months thereafter.

Edited Concert Streaming Agreement

The Edited Concert Streaming Agreement covers content filmed live and cut into individual songs for subscription video on demand (SVOD), like Apple Music, and/or ad-supported video on demand (AVOD), like VEVO. The scales are $421.56 per 15 minutes of audio, in addition to a $113.16 image fee per filmed song, per side musician. For a single song, not to exceed seven-and-a-half minutes, the audio rate is $278.24, in addition to a $113.16 image fee. The health and welfare contribution is $27 per day and the pension contribution is 14.17%. These wages cover an initial six-month cycle, with an additional 7% of gross receipts due as an aggregate payment every six months thereafter, for any subsequent streaming. This agreement may not be utilized for theatrical productions; symphonic, opera or ballet performances; or performances outside the US.

Promotional Streaming Agreement

Under the Promotional Streaming Agreement, the signatory can film up to 30 minutes and stream up to three minutes of a performance on social media streaming platforms, for the sole purpose of promoting live union engagements by the same signatory. The payment required is an additional 10% of the performance wages required by the Local Single Engagement Contract covering the live event, in addition to a 12% pension contribution. This agreement is not available to symphony, opera, ballet, or chamber orchestras with collective bargaining agreements or to producers of theatrical shows. 

This article is meant to be an overview, and not an exhaustive or definitive way to assign a streaming agreement to an individual performance.

For streamed orchestral or symphonic content, contact Debbie Newmark at
dnewmark@afm.org.

For streamed scripted or dramatic content, contact Matt Allen at mallen@afm.org to ensure a project does not fall under Television Film Made for New Media.

For streamed talk, variety, or live competition content, please determine if it is covered by Television Videotape Made for New Media by contacting me at (mblakey@afm.org).

Contact me also if you have questions about any of the above agreements or information. 

Electronic Media Services, International Musician

Announcing the New Term of the Local Limited Pressing Agreement

by Maria Warner-Dowrich, Contract Administrator AFM Electronic Media Services Division

Local officers have been notified of a pension contribution increase, as well as the effective dates of the current Limited Pressing Agreement (LPA). Its term—February 1, 2017 through January 31, 2020—runs concurrently with the Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA). The pension fund contribution rate of 12.81% of original wages became effective July 3, 2017. 

Note: edited versions of the LPA will not be accepted. This agreement is for non-symphonic recordings only.

Copies of the LPA kit, along with a detailed letter outlining each document and its usage were emailed to all local officers.

The Electronic Media Services Division (EMSD), under the direction of Pat Varriale, and consistent with AFM International Executive Board mandate, correlated the necessary documents and created the LPA kit, which comprises the following documents:

Limited Pressing Agreement (LPA)

Guidelines for establishing an LPA

Addendum A to be filled in by the local utilizing the agreement. When properly completed, it may be used as a master. It must always be utilized in combination with an LPA in signing a company to the agreement.

Addendum B sets forth the provisions for recordings not eligible for Tony Awards.

Prior to the engagement, the original LPA must be signed by an authorized representative of the company and a local officer.

If you haven’t already done so, please forward an updated copy of your local’s current effective LPA to the AFM office. The B-9 report is the proper form to be utilized and filed with the Federation. It can be found in the Members section of the AFM.org website in the Document Library.

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the EMSD office at (212) 869-1330 X234 or X233 or email: pvarriale@afm.org. or mwarner-dowrich@afm.org.

For Canadian members, there is an LPA with some variations. Please contact AFM Canada Electronic Media Supervisor Daniel Calabrese at (416) 391-5161 X224 for details.

For Symphonic Limited Pressings, please contact AFM Director of Symphonic Electronic Media Deborah Newmark at email: dnewmark@afm.org or (212) 869-1330 x225.

live performance contract
Electronic Media Services, International Musician

Live Performance Contracts: How They Relate to Electronic Media

Electronic Media Services Division

by Patrick Varriale, AFM Electronic Media Services Division Director and Assistant to the President

It’s been said before, but is worth repeating: When there is a live performance taking place it is extremely important for the musicians engaged to be protected with an AFM-approved live performance contract. This applies to almost any engagement, whether it is a major venue or a small theater or club. (Musicians working under AFM collective bargaining agreements or under AFM-approved touring agreements already have this protection.)

Filing a contract assists the Electronic Media Services Division (EMSD) in the event the performance is captured. We view recordings or transmissions of a performance as a separate service from the live aspect. The musicians should be properly covered with an AFM agreement in place and receive additional compensation—over and above the rates under the local’s single engagement price list—for electronic media use of their live work.

The following is an excerpt from the AFM Bylaws, Article 10, Section 7.

All contracts or agreements covering live performances by AFM members must contain the following provision: “No performance or rehearsal shall be recorded, reproduced, or transmitted from the place of performance, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, in the absence of a specific written agreement with or approved in writing by the AFM relating to and permitting such recording, reproduction, or transmission. This prohibition shall not be subject to any procedure of arbitration and the AFM may enforce this prohibition in any court of competent jurisdiction.”

Whenever musicians are engaged to perform at a venue they should contact the AFM local in whose jurisdiction the work will take place to ascertain if there will be a contract to cover their services. If there isn’t one, local officers can make arrangements to secure one. There are live contracts that have a pension contribution component and those that do not. The local in whose jurisdiction the work will take place will be able to clarify which contract applies to your situation. There is no reason for not having a contract in place for every gig.

The following example helps to illustrate the difficulties we encounter when there is no live contract in place. There was a selection for use on television that was taken from a performance from several years ago that featured a major artist. As we investigated, we discovered that no live contract was filed. The local with jurisdiction had no record of who performed on the live gig and no record of the musicians being compensated for the capture. This put the AFM in an awkward and weak position when we attempted to establish an appropriate payment for use of the selection.

Locals should be proactive in checking venues within their jurisdictions to ensure that the contractors/leaders have the proper contracts in place, consistent with AFM Bylaws. Musicians called for an engagement should not hesitate to contact the local to make sure everything is in order. In this day and age, almost everything is captured, whether it’s an album release, streaming event, television production, or just for archival purposes. Even if there is no immediate usage as outlined in the preceding paragraph, your services should be protected so that you receive the appropriate electronic media compensation, including wages, residuals, royalties, and benefits.

At the officer training meetings I participate in at our various conferences, live performance contract filing has become an increasingly important subject in my “Demystifying the EMSD” PowerPoint presentations. It can have a major impact on whether this office is able to secure proper additional payments for performances that have an electronic media component.

radney foster
Member Profiles

A Lonestar State of Mind: The Literary Rise of Radney Foster

Storyteller Radney Foster of Local 257 (Nashville, TN) is touring this fall as both a musician and an author, following the release of his book and companion CD, For You to See the Stars.

When he’s touring the US this fall, singer-songwriter Radney Foster of Local 257 (Nashville, TN) will add book signings to his schedule. Last year, he released a collection of short stories, For You to See the Stars, complete with a companion CD.

The project began a few years ago when Foster was stricken with pneumonia and resulting laryngitis that set him back for nearly two months. He says, “I had to have about six weeks of physical therapy before I could sing and resume touring,” adding, “It was an existential crisis for a guy like me.”

“I decided I was a storyteller. I started thinking up all the ways I could tell stories.” He was taking a vacation in West Texas when he was inspired to write the title story of his book. “There’s no light pollution and a crazy array of stars. That’s where the short story was born, from that place.” It’s about struggle, he explains. “You’ve got to go through the dark times, the depths of things, the things we suffer as humans, to see the brighter notions that make our lives better.”

Foster is known for his literary approach to songwriting, having penned songs covered by Keith Urban of Local 257, Sara Evans, and The Dixie Chicks. Troubadour Guy Clark had immense influence on how Foster approaches the craft of songwriting, with artistry. In Nashville, at MTM Records, which employed a slew of songwriters, Foster honed his craft. He worked for a time with renowned lyricist Bob McDill, long considered the poet laureate of country music. With classics like “Everything that Glitters Is Not Gold” and “Good Ole Boys Like me,” Foster says, “For Bob, the story mattered.”

Foster’s song “The Greatest Show on Earth” is a nod to his musical roots. His grandfather was a cowboy and his father played guitar. Foster says, “He loved to sing with his buddies. On Saturday nights, somebody brought the barbecue, somebody brought the beer, and everybody brought
a mandolin or guitar and they sang on the back porch.”

A year spent opening for Mary Chapin Carpenter of Local 161-710 (Washington, DC) and Vince Gill of Local 257 informed his performance. Foster says, “You learn a lot from watching people who you open for and share the stage with. You’ve got 45 minutes to win over the audience. You better be able to tell a story in a song that really moves somebody.”

The magnanimity of his heroes is not lost on Foster—stars like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard asked him to join them on stage. Guy Clark invited him to a guitar pull at a festival in 1989 that included heavyweights Jeff Hanna from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Emmylou Harris of Local 161-710 (Washington, DC), Vince Gill and Rodney Crowell of Local 257, and Rosanne Cash.

Foster often tackles social issues with his music, sometimes drawing on Woodie Guthrie. Such was the case in 2016, during the presidential campaign, when he wrote “All that I Require.” In it, he targets extremism, hate speech, and intolerance, while not directly calling out a candidate.

Recently, the separation of parents and children at the US-Mexico border moved Foster to re-release his lullaby “Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)” in Spanish (“Dulces Sueños”). He wrote the song 21 years ago for his five-year-old son who was headed to France to live with his mother. Foster says, “Songs like this have taught me that you change hearts before you change minds.” He cast the new version as “a prayer for the border” accompanied by a video with images of stranded children and grief-stricken parents. Proceeds will benefit the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), a Texas-based advocacy group working on behalf of immigrants. 

Growing up in Del Rio, Texas, just a mile from the Mexico border, Foster heard as much traditional Mexican music as country and rock ’n’ roll. “On the other side of the river, there were guys playing huapangos, a very Latin-driven style,” adding, “Our nanny listened to Jalisco music, mariachi, ranchero, and corridos.”

“My father [a lawyer] was adamant that you could not work in that town if you were not bilingual.” He laughs, “If you’re playing at the Holiday Inn lounge and you don’t know any songs in Spanish, you might be losing out on tip money—at least in my hometown.”

Foster sings in Spanish in some concerts. One of the bonus tracks on his last album is a song he wrote with three Latino soldiers through the charity program Songwriting with Soldiers.

In the late ’80s, he and Bill Lloyd of Local 257 delivered a number of commercial hits as the duo Foster & Lloyd. “We were on the cusp of a new generation who knew and understood the roots of country music and we were willing to stretch the envelope,” he says. “All of a sudden, Rodney Crowell had a country record with five number one singles. Our friend, Steve Earle, got signed to MCA and put out Guitar Town, and Guy Clark introduced us to this young guy, Lyle Lovett. We got signed the same year.”

Foster says joining the union helped him focus on the business side of his career, saying Local 257 President Dave Pomeroy has been extremely supportive. In addition to becoming part of the community of players—whom he regularly calls on for backup—he remembers getting help figuring out how to put a budget together, applying low budget scale for independent records, and maintaining the rights to his own masters.

Last year, Foster expanded to theater, as lead in the musical, Troubadour, by the Grammy Award-winning Kristian Bush of Local 257. In the meantime, he continues to write and is considering adapting a story from his book.

Reflecting on his new career as an author, Foster says it’s not unlike his previous roles as guitar player, producer, singer, and songwriter. “I’m adding as many ways as I can to tell stories,” he says.

contract
Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

Union Contracts Strengthen Our Union in the Digital World

Pour la version française cliquez ici.

A recent online Rolling Stone article (“Musicians Get Only 12% of the Money the Music Industry Makes,” by Amy X. Wang) suggests that total music spending in the US is at an all-time high, an estimated $43 billion annually. Of that, Wang claims, musicians receive approximately 12%—which is apparently up from 7% in 2000. This huge disparity is blamed on “value leakage,” or more specifically, money siphoned off by various entities who are involved between the recording process and the delivery of content to listeners.

Continue reading →
secondary markets fund
International Musician

Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund Update

by Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund Administrator Kim Roberts Hedgpeth

Pour la version française cliquez ici.

The Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund (FMSMF) works to serve the film, television, and music communities and meet the needs of film musicians whose talents fuel the industry. To this end, the FMSMF is pleased to provide ongoing updates to AFM members through the International Musician.

Secondary Market Exploitation of Film and Television Continues to Grow! 

The FMSMF closed its 2018 fiscal year with the highest level of contributions in FMSMF’s history. For the first time, residual contributions broke the $100 million threshold. When the books closed March 31, 2018, the FMSMF had received residuals of more than $107 million during fiscal year 2018, surpassing the record of $98.4 million set in FY2017.

The continued growth of contributions to the FMSMF during the past several years is a reassuring testament to the continued increase in revenue generated by sales in secondary markets, such as pay TV, DVDs, basic cable, and new media—with growth continuing to expand in the area of “new media” platforms, such as SVOD.   

Residuals paid into FMSMF each year are a function of consumer demand and the resulting financial success of films, television programs, and new media projects in their respective secondary markets. There is no guarantee that the upward trend in residuals will continue in subsequent years because it is affected by consumer choices, the state of the overall economy, and other factors. However, FMSMF continues to work hard to ensure that residuals due to covered musicians are paid accurately and in a timely fashion.

FMSMF remitted more than 15,900 payments to musicians and their beneficiaries in its 2018 annual distribution.

Trends and fluctuations in various types of residual sources over the past seven years.

Secondary Market Residuals Support the AFM Pension Fund 

FY2018 was the first fiscal year in which FMSMF forwarded a payment to the AFM-Employers Pension Fund (AFM-EPF), as now required by the 2015 AFM-AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) collective bargaining agreements, in order to support the health and funding status of the AFM-EPF. This payment, which allocates 1.5% of the annual residual contributions received by FMSMF and interest earnings to the AFM-EPF, became effective October 1, 2017. As a result, the FMSMF’s payment of more than $827,000 to the AFM-EPF covered the third and fourth quarters of the FMSMF’s 2018 fiscal year. 

FY2019 will reflect a full 12-month allocation and remittance to the EPF from the FMSMF. The continued growth in secondary market residuals, if sustained and expanded in the future at levels consistent with recent years, will benefit all pension fund participants by supporting the EPF’s funding.

New Films, New Musicians

FMSMF received residuals for more than 230 “new titles” during FY2018. New titles refers to titles paying into FMSMF for the first time. Most of these newly reported titles were films and TV shows first released in 2015, 2016, or 2017, although some were older films and series that generated secondary market receipts and residuals for the first time.

The FY2018 new titles included feature films such as The Dark Tower, Fences, Hidden Figures, It, Sully, and War for the Planet of the Apes and television series such as Quantico (16/17), Transparent (16), and Rectify (Seasons 15/16). An entire season of a multi-episode television series is counted as one title. A complete list of the FY2018 “new” titles is posted on the FMSMF website at www.fmsmf.org/filmtitles/new-films.php.

A total of 935 musicians were credited with residuals for the first time: 831 musicians as a result of work on original scoring sessions and 104 first-timers as a result of new use of prior union covered sound recordings in a film or television program. During the past several years, between 800 and 1,000 new musicians were added each year as FMSMF participants because they were credited with residuals for the first time.

FMSMF continues to provide information to its participants via Music Notes, FMSMF’s e-newsletter, which is emailed to participants several times each year. The fund has worked to keep its Facebook page current, including information on FMSMF’s community outreach partnerships with Columbia University, ASCAP, SxSW, and the American Film Market. If you’re a fund participant, we hope you will subscribe to Music Notes, and whether or not you’re a fund participant, we hope you’ll keep current on FMSMF activities. Follow us and like us on Facebook!

commercial announcements agreement
Electronic Media Services, International Musician

Additional Extension to the Commercial Announcements Agreement

by Maria Warner-Dowrich, Contract Administrator AFM Electronic Media Services Division

Effective June 1, an agreement for an additional extension to the Commercial Announcements Agreement was reached between the AFM and the ANA-4A’s Joint Policy Committee on Broadcast Talent Union Relations (JPC). This 18-month extension is in addition to the June 5, 2014 through June 4, 2017 agreement, previously extended to June 4, 2018. The agreement is now extended through December 4, 2019.

Under the terms of this new extension, base wages have been increased by  2% for services provided on or after the effective date. The pension fund contribution of 16.5%, and the health and welfare contribution of 6% on scale wages, plus $26 on session only services, remain the same as on the agreement that expired June 4, 2018. Following is a concise outline of the new basic session wages:

National Commercials

Session Fees (one-hour minimum) are as follows:

Side musician with no doubles—$132.35 (up to three, one-minute spots)

Leader, arranger, contractor, orchestrator—$264.70

Music preparation rates increased by 2%

Copyists receive either the side musician’s rate or page rates, whichever is higher.

Arrangers and orchestrators receive
the leader’s rate or page rates, whichever is higher

Sideline musician, eight-hour minimum—$223.69

Sideline musician performing alone, eight-hour work day—$260.10

Leader and orchestra manager—$447.38

Pension fund contribution—16.5% of scale wages

Health and welfare—$26, plus 6% of scale wages

For session only—an additional $26 for each of the first two lines, per performer, per report

Doubling: first double—30% extra of base scale, each additional double—15% of base scale

Reuse/Initial Use Fees

The initial use fees below cover the first 13-week cycle for all national television and radio spots claimed at original session.

Side musician, sideline musician, copyist—$37.50

Leader, contractor, arranger, orchestrator—$75

Reuse Fees

$99.26 per side musician, sideline musician, copyist for each subsequent 13-week cycle, per spot

Leader, contractor, arranger, orchestrator—$198.52

Ballots for the additional extension to the agreement were mailed out along with careful voting instructions for the election process, which was conducted under the strict guidance of the American Arbitration Association. The count was observed by AFM EMSD Administrative Assistant Alyson Sheehan and me.

Upon ratification, the 2% increase became effective June 5.

We have updated the current wage charts, which include foreign use, Internet, nonbroadcast, and all media payments to reflect the 2% increase to the base wages.

For a copy of all Commercial Announcements Agreement documents, log onto the AFM website (www.afm.org) and go to the Document Library, select EMSD, then Electronic Media Guidelines & Summaries, then select the desired document. Alternatively, contact me via email at
mwarner-dowrich@afm.org or call (917) 229-0233.