Studio Beat
I Am A Business
When I started as a working musician, I often said “I’m not good at business; I’m a musician.” Predictably, those words quickly became my unfortunate reality. After being stung a couple of times, I decided to start saying “I’m going to get better at business.” The big realization eventually came to me: I am a business.
Early in my career I made one of my best business decisions ever; I became a member of the AFM. I have since joined many organizations, but none of them offer me more value than the AFM. Here’s a way to enhance your AFM membership:
1. Keep a Log of all your gigs and recordings, either on paper or in a spreadsheet. Keep track of the following:
Date&hours|Location|Artist/Advertiser/Group|Label/Agency/Employer|Producer/Contractor/Leader|Songs/Event|Amount Paid & Source
2. Check your pension statement against your Work Log.
This is an essential yearly business task. If a job is missing from your pension statement, you never received a pension contribution for it. And for recordings, you may have been left off of a session report form, which means you will not receive pension, special payments or new use.
3. Check your Special Payments Fund Statement against your Pension Statement.
Usually the “Phono” sessions that appear on your Pension statement will also be included in your SPF statement. If not, contact us.
4. If work is missing from your Pension or SPF Statement, call us immediately.
Time is of the essence; the Sound Recording Labor Agreement disallows appeals of session report forms after 18 months.
If you need help on any of this, contact me. In the coming months we’ll be holding workshops on these topics. A little work on your part can make a big difference in your success. And it all starts when you say: “I am a business.”
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