Studio Beat

Members: The Strength of Our Local

 We’ve been building momentum at Local 655. Lots of good things are happening, and it all centers around our members. The more the members are involved in this Local, the better things get.

 Strength in Communication

 Our growth begins with communication. When a member calls me with their concerns, that gives me an opportunity to help. When I hear about a non-Union recording, that allows me to work to see if it can be put under contract. I’m proud that there’s enough trust for members to tell me about potential “dark dates” (non-Union recordings.) This confidence is vital; if I don’t know about the recordings, I can’t do anything to remedy the situation. Gratefully, there have been several recent large electronic media projects that would not have been under AFM contract had it not been for the communication and cooperation between the members and myself.

 When you have concerns, please contact me. Recently, some members shared of their issues with me. This led to my traveling to New York to meet with the AFM International Executive Board, at their invitation, to discuss some of our challenges. I’m hopeful this meeting will lead to eventual solutions.

 Strength in Numbers

 I encourage all of you to urge non-members to join the Local. If non-members are playing next to you on Union gigs or recordings, they’re reaping the same benefits as you, but they’re not paying their share. We all need to pull our weight if we want to make this Local as strong as it needs to be. And it only costs 40 cents a day to be a member of Local 655!

 Strength in Diversity

 I’m proud of this Local’s diversity, not only in ethnicity and race, but in musical styles too. We have an extremely active recording industry, as well as many musicians who make most of their living in symphonic or freelance work. We all need to support and respect each other to keep this Local strong in a wide variety of musical work. We have different backgrounds, different ideas of how things should be done, and different opinions as to what should be our priorities. When we work together and come to a consensus, we will always arrive at the best solution.

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