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.
The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.
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.
October 31, 2025
For five rollercoaster years, Dan Beck, Music Performance Trust Fund trustee emeritus, was immersed in a world of unequaled stardom, dealing with the outsized ambition, whims, and idiosyncrasies of the world’s most famous entertainer. Beck, a record company executive at the time, was tasked with marketing Michael Jackson’s 1995 greatest hits album. Beck handled everything from frequent 2 a.m. phone calls to runaway budgets for video shoots, and from desperate efforts to get Jackson to complete the new songs to corporate damage control on a monumental career on the precipice of collapse. He offers a unique look into the workings of the record industry before the digital age and the details of working closely with one of its biggest figures—a supreme talent hampered by naïveté and blind spots when it came to his behavior and image.
“You’ve Got Michael”: Living through HIStory, by Dan Beck, www.trouserpressbooks.com/youve-got-michael