Tag Archives: article

esmd 101
Electronic Media Services, International Musician

EMSD 101: How to Select the Correct Agreement For Your Project

The following questions will help determine which rates and agreement should be applied to your recording. Always contact the AFM to confirm which contract you should be using. Note, if an electronic media project involves a symphony, opera, ballet, or chamber orchestra with a collective bargaining agreement, you need to contact the Symphonic Services Division to determine the appropriate agreement. 

1) If it is a live performance being recorded or taped, is there a live performance contract on file?

2) What is the nature of the project (music recorded for a CD release/download, commercial announcement, television show, motion picture)?

3) If it is for a CD release/download, what is the approximate number of pressings/downloads? What is the approximate budget?

4) If it is for a commercial announcement, is it for a national, regional, or local campaign? Which medium (television, radio, Internet, etc.) will it be used on? Will the musicians be on camera?

5) If it is for a television show, which type of show is it for (variety special, talk, sports event or theme, documentary, sitcom, awards)? Where will the television show air (network, basic cable, pay cable, PBS, local television)?

6)   If it is for a variety type show (talk show, awards show), what is the length of the show and its rehearsals?

7) If it is for a television movie, scripted episodic show, television documentary, or sitcom, will musicians be on camera?

8) If it is a live performance pick-up of a staged concert for the Internet, will it be a one-time live stream or an on-demand stream? Will the stream access be ad supported or subscription based?

9) If it is a project made for new media, what type of show is it, and over which new media platforms will it be available (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple)? Will the viewing be ad supported or subscription based?

10) What is the name of the production entity and party responsible for control of the product?

Electronic Media Services, International Musician

EMSD Special Issue Highlights

Electronic Media Services Division

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

Welcome to this year’s issue of the International Musician focused on electronic media and the Electronic Media Services Division (EMSD)—the division of the AFM charged with serving and protecting the interests of nonsymphonic recording musicians. (The AFM Symphonic Services Division represents opera, ballet, and chamber orchestra electronic media projects.)

This issue is packed with articles and information that I am confident all readers will find interesting. Below, I write about the increasing importance of filing live performance contracts and how vital they are, especially when the performances are captured. On the opposite page is a list of questions that you can ask employers about electronic media projects in order to determine which AFM agreement(s) apply to a particular situation. The accompanying table will further help you to select the proper agreement for your work.

On page 12, Contract Administrator Mary Beth Blakey describes current streaming agreements that cover just about all types of streaming projects. Alyson Sheehan contributes an article on her experiences billing and collecting for the growing use of prerecorded material in commercial announcements.

Contract Administrator Maria Warner-Dowrich expands on the recently ratified 18-month extension of the Commercial Announcements Agreement and the wage increase applicable during that time period on page 14. She also gives an update on the local nonsymphonic Limited Pressing Agreement.

On page 15, Administrative Assistant Kim Wysocki reviews the CD jacket initiative process and how important it is to our billing and collection of new use payments.

In the Official Reports section on page 4, there is an informative article from Recording Musicians Association President Marc Sazer.  My sincere thanks to Marc for his contribution and his ongoing assistance to the EMSD.

I also want to thank the EMSD staff on both coasts for their dedication to the cause. We have an updated list of the staff and their functions on page 16. I am very proud of their accomplishments and the expertise they bring to recording musicians on a daily basis.

Finally, I would also like to thank AFM In-House Counsel Jennifer Garner and Russ Naymark for their continued invaluable assistance in negotiations of our major agreements, resolving long outstanding claims, and lending their expertise to the many special agreements that this office is involved with to cover the recording work of our great musicians.

Enjoy this issue and let us know if you have any questions. We are just a phone call or email away.

pension plan
International Musician, Legislative Update

Your Support Is Needed Now to Protect Our Pension Plan

AFM-Employers Pension Fund (AFM-EPF) trustees urgently ask that each of you contact your member of Congress right away to express your support for a fix to our multiemployer pension plan through the Butch Lewis Act (S. 2147). Congress, specifically the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans (JSC), is currently in the research stage, looking into language to fix troubled multiemployer pension plans. It is vitally important that they hear from each of you now. Be sure to include your story about how critical the plan is to you as a working musician.

As noted in the August International Musician (page 8-9), in formulating a plan of action to best mobilize our pension participants, the AFM-EPF recently launched a webpage to connect fund participants with their members of Congress, as well as with Joint Select Committee members.

To help us protect our pension plan we ask you to take the following two actions.

1) Tell your member of Congress how important your multiemployer pension plan is to you and that you support the Butch Lewis Act. Visit https://afm-epf.org/Congress.aspx where you can

  • learn about the Joint Select Committee
  • identify your members of Congress
  • plan what to say (language is posted for your
    convenience)
  • call your members of Congress
  • email your members of Congress and the JSC
  • schedule a meeting with your members of Congress in their district/home state offices

2) Register at https://afm-epf.org/Registration.aspx to receive the Pension Fund Notes newsletter, which includes regular updates on the progress of the congressionally mandated JSC.

It is important that multiemployer pension funds, participants, unions, and employers all present a united front in demanding a solution from the Joint Select Committee.

If you have not taken action or registered on the official AFM-EPF website, we urge you to do so today!  This will give you access to the latest activity while keeping you abreast of proposals and actions by the JSC. Acting on rumors coming from unofficial, non AFM-EPF sources relating to this critical legislative project can skew the official AFM message and have a very damaging effect on our goal to put you and your interests first. Thanks again for your support and for your AFM membership.

Officer Columns, President's Message

Theater Musicians Association—25 Years of Workplace Involvement

I’ll have the privilege of attending the 23rd conference of the Theater Musicians Association (TMA) on August 20, at Local 47’s new offices in Burbank, California. TMA is the newest AFM player conference. It began its journey 25 years ago, and is now comprised of chapters organized among locals that negotiate local agreements with theatrical venues and presenters that book Pamphlet B tours.

Continue reading →
Orchestra News

Spokane Symphony Concerts Celebrate Labor Day Weekend

Spokane Symphony is set to celebrate Labor Day Weekend with free concerts of light classics, patriotic tunes, and favorite movie music. The first of the concerts is Saturday evening at Pavillion Park on Liberty Lake. The second concert, will be Monday at Comstock Park and includes a preconcert instrument petting zoo. Spokane Symphony musicians are members of Local 105 (Spokane, WA).

Orchestra News

Reno Philharmonic to See Increased Wages and Services

Musicians and management of the Reno Philharmonic have announced a four-year contract, effective July 2018 through June 2022. It provides a per-service pay increase of 3% each year, as well as additional guaranteed services.

Reno Phil, entering its 50th anniversary season, performs more than 30 concerts annually in the Reno-Tahoe region of Nevada. The Philharmonic’s musicians are members of Local 368 (Reno, NV).

Orchestra News

Festivals and Symphonies Celebrate the 100th Birthday of Bernstein

In May 2017, the Leonard Bernstein Office announced “Leonard Bernstein at 100,” a two-year global celebration of the artist’s life and career, featuring more than 2,500 events on six continents. This summer, events accelerated as Bernstein’s actual 100th birthday, August 25, drew near. The composer and conductor had a close relationship with the Tanglewood Festival throughout his career. For its celebration, Tanglewood augmented the Boston Symphony Orchestra, members of Local 9-535 (Boston, MA), with players from numerous orchestras around the world with which Bernstein had maintained close associations. It also held a Bernstein gala concert in June.

In Europe, Bernstein was the most performed composer at the BBC Proms. Among the highlights, Marin Alsop conducted Symphony No. 2: Age of Anxiety with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, members of Local 40-543 (Baltimore, MD), and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in August. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra also visited Edinburgh International Festival to perform Bernstein works.

Ravinia and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, members of Local 10-208 (Chicago, IL), marked the occasion with a full production of MASS and a concert featuring Symphony No. 1 Jeremiah. At the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, The New York Philharmonic gave concerts celebrating Bernstein’s contributions to Broadway. Wolf Trap’s grand celebration of Bernstein included performances by George Takei, Misty Copeland, and Local 802 (New York City) member Paquito D’Rivera.

Orchestra News

Nashville Symphony to Hold Free Day of Music

The Nashville Symphony will hold its 13th annual Free Day of Music October 27 with a full day and evening of performances throughout Schermerhorn Symphony Center, including everything from classical and jazz to rock and country, beginning with a Nashville Symphony concert. In addition to 25 acts on four stages, there will be Q&A with Nashville Symphony conductors; enhanced accessibility with sensory-friendly offerings and ASL translators, Halloween and Day of the Dead themed family activities; an instrument petting zoo, food trucks, an outdoor beer garden, and a photo booth.

The annual event is part of Nashville Symphony’s commitment to provide accessible musical experiences for everyone in Middle Tennessee. Nashville Symphony musicians are members of Local 257 (Nashville, TN).

Orchestra News

Cleveland Orchestra Receives Generous Bequest

The Cleveland Orchestra has received $9.3 million from the estate of local philanthropist Dr. Jean Hower Taber, great-granddaughter of the founder of the Quaker Oats Company. The gift, announced by the orchestra in early August, was outlined in her will and came as an unexpected surprise. Taber, who regularly contributed to the orchestra’s annual fund as a member of The Cleveland Orchestra’s Heritage Society, died in July 2017, at age 94.

An August performance at Blossom Music Center was dedicated to Taber. The Cleveland Orchestra musicians, members of Local 4 (Cleveland, OH)—along with the entire organization—are grateful for the generous gift.

Symphonic Services Division

Using wagechart.afm.org to Understand the Symphonic World

by Laurence Hofmann, AFM Symphonic Services Division Contract Administrator/Communications and Data Coordinator

A unique digital tool and a dynamic  and interactive database

The website dedicated to the symphonic charts is wagechart.afm.org. All AFM members with a registered account have access to this invaluable tool that ultimately eases the understanding of the symphonic world.

Wagechart is an online platform where most current, as well as historic, data about wages and working conditions for symphony orchestras affiliated to the players conferences are collected and made available for ad hoc industry analysis. This is possible thanks to the extraordinary Comparative Analysis tool. Symphonic negotiation committees can use this tool to gather necessary basic information and generate tables and graphs in preparation for upcoming negotiations.

wagechart