The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional musicians in the United States and Canada. It negotiates fair agreements, protects ownership of recorded music, secures benefits such as healthcare and pension, and lobbies legislators. In Canada, the AFM is known as the Canadian Federation of Musicians/Fédération Canadienne des Musiciens (CFM/FCM). The organization publishes the monthly journal International Musician.
The AFM is affiliated with AFL-CIO (the largest federation of unions in the United States); the Department of Professional Employees; and the Canadian Labour Congress, the federation of unions in Canada.
The AFM has 162 affiliated locals across the United States and Canada that are organized into 11 geographic conferences: Canadian, Eastern, Illinois State, Mid-America, Mid-States, New England, New Jersey, California, Texas, Southern, and Western.
Six player conferences—International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM), Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians (OCSOM), Regional Orchestra Players Association (ROPA), Recording Musicians Association (RMA), Theater Musicians Association (TMA), and Freelance Musicians Association (FMA) -- give voice to musicians in various industry sectors.
The AFM maintains close ties with other arts and entertainment unions and trade organizations in the US, Canada, and around the world. These alliances allow for additional support and solidarity during contract negotiations. Among its union allies in North America are the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Teamsters, Writers Guild of America (WGA), Directors Guild of America (DGA), Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and more.
Through solidarity with other unions representing workers in the film and television industry, the AFM was able to win progressive Basic Theatrical Motion Picture and Basic Television Motion Picture contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in spring 2024. The AFM’s negotiations began shortly after resolution of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that interrupted film and television production. The AFM was a strong supporter of WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and other trade unions during their negotiations with AMPTP.
The AFM maintains close ties to international musician unions through its membership in the International Federation of Musicians (FIM). Current AFM president Tino Gagliardi serves as a vice president on the FIM Presidium. The AFM maintains a close ties with the Musicians’ Union in the United Kingdom.
The AFM is a member of the National Music Council of the United States and the musicFIRST Coalition.
The roots of the musicians’ collective action began with the New York City-based Musical Mutual Protective Union in 1863, which took the first steps toward creating uniform scales for different types of musical employment in 1878. By March 1886, delegates from 15 different protective unions across the US came together to form the National League of Musicians to discuss and rectify common issues, such as competition from traveling musicians.
The American Federation of Labor recognized the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) in 1896. A group of delegates had broken away from the National League of Musicians in order to form a more egalitarian organization. Seeking to give meaning to the phrase "In unity there is strength", the first standing resolution of the AFM was: "That any musician who receives pay for his musical services, shall be considered a professional musician." However, the union was racially segregated.
The first convention, upon which the American Federation of Musicians was founded, was held October 1896 at the Hotel English in Indianapolis, Indiana. The group had 3,000 members and Owen Miller became the first AFM president. In 1896, Miller said: "The only object of AFM is to bring order out of chaos and to harmonize and bring together all the professional musicians of the country into one progressive body."
At the same time, the trade-union movement was taking hold throughout North America. Unions representing all types of laborers were forming to exercise collective strength to raise wages, improve working conditions and secure greater dignity and respect for working people. In 1887, the AFL and the Knights of Labor first invited the National League of Musicians to affiliate with the trade-union movement, but the offers produced deep divisions within the National League of Musicians. Some members objected to musicians being called laborers, insisting instead that they were "artists and professionals." As the American music scene prospered and more symphony orchestras were founded, the need for a national organization for musicians increased.
In 1897, the union became international when the Montreal Musicians Protective Union and Toronto Orchestral Association joined.
By 1900, the union changed its name to the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada and was actively organizing on both sides of the border. In 1902, the first Black local, Local 288, was chartered in Chicago.
A 1903 resolution was passed prohibiting foreign bands taking work from domestic bands. It was followed by a 1905 letter from the AFM petitioning president Theodore Roosevelt to protect American musicians by limiting the importation of musicians from outside Canada and the US.
By 1905, an official position on the International Executive Board was created to provide Canadian representation at the federation level, and second Black local Pittsburgh's Local 471, was chartered. Early accomplishments of the union included setting the first scales for orchestras traveling with comic operas, musical comedies and grand opera. Among the pressing issues was competition from both foreign musicians and off-duty military musicians.
In its first 10 years, the AFM had organized 424 locals and 45,000 musicians in the US and Canada. Virtually all instrumental musicians in the US were union members. In 1906, the 10-year-old organization made a donation of $1,000 to earthquake victims in San Francisco.
A 1908 appropriations bill banned armed-services musicians (exempting Marines) from competing with civilians. In 1916, Congress passed a law prohibiting all armed-services members from competing with civilians.