Joe Russo, John Medeski and Marc Ribot at the 2024 TeachRock benefit, photo by JMSArtandPhoto
Artists are banding together in support of a campaign to establish union representation for independent musicians. The “We Need a Union” petition, sponsored by an organization of the same name and circulated by the Music Workers Alliance advocacy group, demands that the American Federation of Musicians step forward to face the transformative threat of ”devaluation and displacement” from generative AI and extend benefits to independent artists, or to step aside and enable musicians to organzie for their interests elsewhere.
“AFM contracts provide excellent benefits for those who perform on major label (Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony) recordings,” the letter to AFM President Tino Gagliardi reads, “But the AFM has never challenged those corporations to extend benefits to the musicians and DJ/producers who create the indie recordings they distribute and have failed to organize indie labels distributed by indie distributors (DistroKid, TuneCore, etc).
“As a result, generations of indie musicians have lived and died without basic Union protection. The Union, less than 1/7th the size of its 1960’s peak, has been powerless to fight back as our rights have been trampled by Silicon Valley mega-corporations. And pay standards have shrunk to fit Spotify’s .0038 cent starvation wage. Recording musicians are now facing mass displacement and devaluation via generative AI.”
The “We Need a Union” petition explicitly states three demands: a requirement for musicians’ consent in the use of their work to train generative AI, portable beefits for all musicians performing on indie labels distributed by major labels, and an end date of April 30 on the AFM’s new contract with the major labels to open the potential for a participation in the United Auto Workers’ call for united labor action on May 1. In the case that the AFM is unable to meet these demands, the petition states that the union must allow independent musicians to organize outside of it.
The AFM is the only union for musicians recognized by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, and its exclusive domain is enforced through rules allowing fines, expulsion and blacklisting for members who join an alternative musicians union. An FAG document attached to the petition clarifies that “We Need a Union” will form an independent union only if the AFM does not intend to meet the petition’s demands at the upcoming negotiations with the major labels.
“The AFM could fight back when it renegotiates its contract with the major labels in 2026. But the elites who control AFM recording negotiations don’t believe AI affects them,” the petition urges. “Fighting back demands the unity of ALL musicians: the indie musicians who have been excluded in the past must now be included in demands and given voice in negotiations.”
The musicians who have publicly voiced their support for the “We Need a Union” petition include Joe Russo, John Medeski and Marc Ribot.
“It’s been far too long since independent musicians have had a true union work for them,” Russo said in a video posted to his social channels. “The traditional unions don’t seem to be doing the trick when it comes to musicians of an independent nature, and if they’re not gonna do it, then there needs to be an ability for independent musicians to form their own union to fight for their rights.”
A rally in support of the “We Need a Union” petition will occur outside the AFM headquarters in New York City on Monday, December 15 at noon. Learn more about the action and sign the petition here.
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