Clash of the Titans, AFM vs. RMA Part II

Trying to make sense of the AFM/RMA conflict – continued from Part I.

The issues behind the AFM/RMA conflict are complex and multi-faceted, but they appear to revolve around media rights, reuse and residual payments, work dues and where this money trail ultimately ends. RMA-affiliated musicians in the major U.S. recording capitals – Los Angeles, Nashville and New York especially – are struggling with the AFM over these issues.

Personal experience

Years ago, I was fortunate to be a part of a recording with a major classical artist. I was paid well for the sessions and then promptly forgot about it.

15 years and 5 cities later, the Sound Recording Special Payment Fund caught up to me. After a few short weeks and some paperwork I received a nice stack of residual checks from those sessions 15 years earlier. (!)

I was impressed.

Now, contrast this positive experience to another in my tenure with the Mexico City Philharmonic.

A well-known L.A. producer came to town to record a series of “movie’s greatest hits CDs.” The work was grueling and time-consuming: a week-long series of sessions to produce 5 CDs of movie music.

The musicians made no extra money beyond our meager salaries – no residuals, either. We also got no credit. On the final product we were given a fictitious (and I suppose more “marketable”) name – the “Orchestra of the Americas.”

So – a carpetbagging producer who outsourced studio work to a foreign country, paid a one-time fee to management (who pocketed the money), packaged and sold internationally a multiple CD product with a slick veneer, kept all the profits from the musician’s time and labor.

Also, quite impressive.

I bought my copies at a Best Buy in the States for 10.99 each.

A Manifesto

Probably the most interesting voice to enter the AFM/RMA fray recently is AFM Reality Check. The author’s detailed manifesto gave the final “aha!” moment I was searching for. I would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in this mess to read this manifesto first. The author makes some very compelling arguments.

Truth and consequences

This conflict has roots that go as far back as 50 years – when the RMA formed the Guild. Stark comparisons are being made to that time.

The consequences of a worst case scenario are bleak. Pooling together information from the various sources used in this blog post shines a sober light on what is at stake:

• Estimates put the total AFM membership at about 90,000-100,000 (depending on the source).
• Of those, only an estimated 10 – 12% are working professionals.
• 1600 to 1800 of AFM members are recording artists.
• The RMA’s membership is at about 1,400.
• Besides annual dues, AFM members pay work dues – a 2% deduction taken from paychecks and special payments – that go to the AFM coffers.
• The RMA is one of the largest contributors of work dues, accounting for millions of dollars and a substantial percentage of the AFM’s national treasury.
• Some RMA members feel over-burdened withAFM-mandated dues. AFM Reality Check goes so far as to call it “taxation without representation.”
• Lawsuits are already in motion between the AFM and members of the RMA.
• Ed Shamgochian writes that the AFM may actually decertify the RMA (based on a litany of allegations), and in the process may harm the conference system as a whole, the AFM treasury and hence its ability to operate.

As an outsider, I cannot offer any special insights. I can only scratch the surface and connect the dots from what information can be found online. As a commenter pointed out yesterday, there is much beneath the surface – which from the outside cannot be fully understood.

However, I can help to spread the word. For more information please investigate the resources below.

Resources:

• The AFM Observer
• Variety (August 21st)
• AFM Wakeup Call
• August Senza Sordino
• Ed Shamgochian
• RMA LA (relationship to the AFM)
• President Bradley Open Letter to Local 257 (page 28)

UPDATE:

Light and Shadow – more resources to investigate.