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Overview
The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) is an American labor union that focuses on the well being of the musicians. It was founded in mid-1800s, in hopes to impact the musicians’ lives in multiple ways. It brings awareness to the public about music as well as protecting artist’s rights and original work. American Federation of Musicians is composed of professional individuals in the work field who value music to be a part of their lives. This page will have an overview of the American Federation of Musicians’ early history, mission statement, board members, and more.

Early History
The American Federation of Labor recognized American Federation of Musicians (AFM) in 1896. This was the beginning of their journey, which allowed them to flourish with their ideas and build a sense of community. In 1900, American Federation of Musicians modified its name to American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada. This was done in light of reaching musicians beyond America. After the modification, American Federation of Musicians began to grow at a fast pace. From Thousands of people signed up and became official members and that led to American Federation of Musicians gaining fame in no time. Even to this day, the AFM is one of the most recognized labor union in America and Canada.

The downfall of the 1900’s
Early 1900’s was a time when recordings came to play and musicians made profits off of it (through commercials). However, around the time when World War 1 hit, the unemployment made a huge impact on musicians’ lives as well. Majority of movies released around the time were silent films, resulting musicians to be jobless. Also, since the overall economy declining, many musicians were laid off and the music that was once popular was no longer needed in public broadcasting networks. This brought a great sorrow among the musicians.

By the end of 1920’s, due to many factors, not a lot of recording companies survived. As the nation was still recovering from World War 1, the technology was advancing and there was diversity in recording producing music. This gave hope and resulted American Federation of Musicians a new vision. AFM was motivated to bring awareness of music to the public. After couple decades, in 1938, the American Federation of Musicians established partnership with motion pictures agreement. New opportunities and jobs were opening up for musicians as well as people in film industry.

Birth to a new generation, 1960s
Early 1960s marked a new beginning to the music industry. If the music in early 1900’s consisted of jazz and rhythm and blues, rock and roll became mainstream in the 1960s. After the World War II, a new culture entered the United States called the Baby boom era. Rock and roll entered the culture and it brought a huge explosion to the music industry market. Rock n roll became the “mainstream” music, which proved its popularity through record sales. Public began to recognize and appreciate the creativity in music. Slowly but surely, music became source that brought unity and peace to people.

By 1970’s, there were multiple genres to music. Unlike the previous decades, there was diversity to musical genres such as disco and rock. As more and more genres were entering the market, the record sales accelerated as well. The earlier genres such as classical, jazz and rhythm and blues gave birth to new sounds such as gospel, rap, and hip hop. During this period of time, new artists were being founded and that caused more people to follow music. Record companies began to flourish again and by the late 1970s, music was presented to the public in diverse ways.

20th century, New millennium
Over the history, the American Federation of Musicians modified and created new sounds and systems that respected the musicians and music. Hundred years later, American Federation of Musicians is still growing in numbers. There are nearly 20,000 members in each region and to this day, it supports the old and young musicians with same respect and values. Just as there are pros, there are also cons to the success that happened over time. One of the main issues that the American Federation of Musicians is trying to regulate is a problem with plagiarizing and illegal downloading. Since there were countless amount of sounds, beats, rhythms created over the years, it reached to a point where many songs overlap. Also, as Internet and technology continues to advance and becomes easily accessible, it makes it easier for people to share the music online. Illegal downloading is a serious matter yet hard to regulate since it’s impossible to track down every individual.

Mission Statement
The American Federation of Musician’s mission statement is to create a community for the musicians and support them morally, economically and politically.

Moral Aspect: American Federation of Musicians welcomes people of ever race, gender, marital status, economic status, age, and sex to be a part of their public union. The majority of their members consist of musicians in professionals work fields. This means that not all the members are full-time musicians. American Federation of Musicians encourages and expects its members to live in dignity and integrity.

Economic Aspect: The American Federation of Musicians uses the collective aspect to increase the economic aspect in all the members. In earlier years while musicians were struggling due to different circumstances, American Federation of Musicians compensated for its members to receive a minimum wage. Also, the American Federation of Musicians made sure that the musicians were able protected and taken care by the government during the times of great depression. American Federation of Musicians strives to offer best deals and also secure a stable economic status to its musicians.

Political Aspect: The American Federation of Musicians values and invests in opportunities to gain political power. One of their visions is to voice for the voiceless (expressing to stop child labor in 1922) and also to gain respect from the government. The American Federation of Musicians is a strong advocate to fight for justice and peace. They hope to help shape the patterns of society by bringing order and harmony through music.

Membership Benefits
There are many benefits for becoming a member of American Federation of Musicians. According to American Federation of Musicians’ official website, it provides the following: “ contracts/collective bargaining, pension and health, insurance programs, referral programs, as well as subscriptions to International Musicians.” The members can get access to minor things such as sheet music, general news and information in the music industry to health insurance. American Federation of Musicians creates atmospheres for musicians to establish and build connections that will help them to prosper in different ways. There are guidelines and curriculums that help one to make wise choices when it comes to signing contracts with other people or companies. Also, it promotes the musician’s music as well as protects it from illegal downloading and stealing ideas. American Federation of Musicians also offers scholarships to young musicians and connects them to get started with their musical career.

Departments
There are several departments in American Federation of Musicians. Besides the administration offices (Presidents, Secretary), there are also Education, Symphonic, Legislative, International office, and Immigration office. Each department focuses to assist and develop strategies to help the members as well as the public.

Locations
The main headquarter of American Federation of Musicians is located in New York City. Over the span of hundred years, American Federation of Musicians branched out to popular cities such as Los Angeles, Hawaii, Washington, and Toronto as well as smaller cities all throughout the United States and Canada. There are over hundreds of small branches and other methods to get connected.

Owen Miller (1896–1900)
Owen Miller was elected as the first President of American Federation of Musicians. Prior to American Federation of Musicians, Miller also served in the State Federation of Labor (SFL) of Missouri. Growing up, Miller grew up in difficult family background, which required him to stop receiving education and enter the work field. Miller was self-taught during the years of adolescence. While he was serving at American Federation of Musicians as the president, he focused on bringing unity among the musicians. Miller served as a president of the American Federation of Musicians until his death.

Joseph Weber (1900-1914)
Joseph Weber served as a president of American Federation of Musicians for fourteen years. He resigns from presidency in 1914 but returns in 1915.

Frank Carothers (1914-1915)
Frank Carothers served only one year as a president of the American Federation of Musicians. Data does not reason why.

Joseph Weber (1915-1940)
In 1915, Weber got re-elected to be an overseer of American Federation of Musicians. He served for twenty-five more years.

James C. Petrillo (1940-1958)
James C Petrillo was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Having a solid musical background, he became the President of the American Musicians Union (AMU) at an early age. However, he chose to leave AMU to join American Federation of Musicians and eventually becomes the President of AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS in 1940. While Petrillo was serving as a President, he made many poor choices. Believing his ways were correct, Petrillo demanded recording bans musicians. Therefore, he faced many complications with the fellow musicians.

Herman D. Kenin (1958-1970)
Herman D. Kenin was born in New Jersey in 1901. As a violinist, he travelled to different states in hopes to achieving his dreams. Kenin became a president of the American Federation of Musicians in 1958 and served until his death.

Hal Davis (1970-1978)
Hai Davis served as a president of the American Federation of Musicians for eight years.

Victor Fuentealba (1978-1987)
Victor Fuentealba served for nine years as a president of the American Federation of Musicians.

Martin Emerson (1987-1991)
Martin Emerson served for four years as a president of the American Federation of Musicians.

Steve Young (1995-2001)
Steve Young served as the president of American Federation of Musicians for six years.

Tom Lee (2001-2010)
Having served in American Federation of Musicians for 10 years prior to his presidency, Tom Lee had many visions for AFM. During his nine years in service, Lee strived to bring changes to the music market. He utilized the online markets to bring awareness and increased sales through it as well.

Ray Hair (2010-present)
Prior to becoming the president of American Federation of Musicians, Hair worked as a director at a corporation called SoundExchange. Working at Sound Exchange allowed him to get a grasp of how things run in the music industry. Ray Hair got elected to serve as a president of American Federation of Musicians in 2010 and he is still in the office.

Related information on AFM (News articles)
1.	American Federation of Musicians and Employers Pension Fund 2.	Musicians Union Ratifies Met Opera Contract 3.	Musicians Union Says It Is Prepared to Strike (1990) 4.    The Musicians Strike (1942)