From the President

Secretary-Treasurer Apana and I attended the American Federation of Musicians Convention in July this year and it was extremely positive and enlightening. In his opening speech, President Ray Hair told us where the AFM was when he took office three years ago, where it is now, and where it is going. It was very inspirational and members can view his speech online at http://www.afm.org/member/lounge . Among the recent accomplishments are new agreements and ongoing endeavors with the recording, Internet, television, movie and multimedia industries. This year, through the Intellectual Property agreement, the AFM has collected nearly a half billion dollars to be distributed to AFM members who are on recordings that get played throughout the world. We expect to have much more money to distribute to AFM members next year as more countries sign on to this.

TEMPO (our legislative branch) is doing a lot of work in Washington (and around the country) to get more legislation passed to help musicians. Among their recent accomplishments are more streamlined visa requirements for traveling musicians, new rules enabling musicians to bring their instruments on flights as carry-ons, and the ability to travel in and out of different countries with instruments made from rare species (violins and bows will not be confiscated anymore). TEMPO also just started a new "TEMPO Club" which we can all be a part of.

We heard from Union Plus about so many benefits like mortgages, credit cards with money back, scholarships, loans, medical cost negotiating and much more.

There is a new big focus on the freelance market where working conditions can be much improved. If you want to be hired for work, add yourself or your group to the new AFM booking agency called AFM Entertainment. You can find it at www.afmentertainment.org. During the conference we enjoyed lots of very good music provided by the AFM musicians who were booked through AFM Entertainment.

Despite the declining working conditions in the United States, our Union is clearly advancing with the times to ensure a more secure future for all musicians.

Fraternally,

President Clippard