After suffering a major blow to its film and TV production in 2023, Hollywood may have another challenge on its hands. The American Federation of Musicians, a union that is made up of 70,000 musicians across the United States and Canada, is following in the footsteps of its unionized colleagues in Hollywood that conducted the successful actors’ and writers’ strikes last year.
AFM is threatening to march to the picket lines for a new contract that meets its demands for improved wages, health care, streaming residuals, artificial intelligence protections and an end to yellow-dog contracts, which is where employees agree to not join a union.
“Now it’s our turn to negotiate a fair and sustainable contract for our members – just like our fellow unions WGA and SAG-AFTRA did,” said AFM in a press release.
The union began negotiating its new contract on Jan. 22 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is a trade association that represents the interests of major producers in film and television.
AFM claims that musicians that perform on soundtracks “are making 75% less on content premiering on streaming platforms,” and that it has caused for musicians to receive less residual income which members claim is “threatening our livelihoods.”
While recently speaking to CNN about the union’s contract negotiations, AFM President Tino Gagliardi said that the union is “prepared to do whatever it needs” to “make the lives of musicians better.”
A strike from the AFM could have a major impact on Hollywood as the members that make up the union record, prepare and perform music across film, TV, radio, commercials, streaming, etc.
Actor Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, left, and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, during a news conference in Los Angeles on Nov. 10, 2023.
Last spring, the Writers Guild of America went on strike in May, and SAG-AFTRA, an actors union, soon followed and started its strike two months later. Both unions’ top concerns were also streaming and the effect it had on residuals.
The WGA strike ended in September, and SAG-AFTRA’s strike ended in November as both unions were able to work out tentative contracts, respectively, with the AMPTP. The strikes caused Hollywood to pause several film and TV productions, and California’s economy reportedly faced a $6 billion loss.
AFM’s call for stronger AI protections to be included in its new contract comes at a time where the music industry has been battling the rise of AI and the negative impact it can have on music artists whose voices and music can easily be mimicked by the technology.
Record label Universal Music Group, which represents artists like Taylor Swift, Drake and Adele, has been leading the fight to regulate AI in the music industry. In April last year, it told CNN that the record label has “a moral and commercial responsibility” to its artists “to work to prevent the unauthorized use of their music and to stop platforms from ingesting content that violates the rights of artists and other creators.”
