Frequently Asked Questions – Dallas/Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association

Being a professional musician is not a hobby – it is a calling, a passion, and a career path that should allow us to both create art and develop our craft while also making a fair living. It’s only through collective action and advocacy that musicians can gain the power to attain a healthy and secure living which will allow us the freedom to pursue our artistic goals and a fulfilling career.
Individually, membership in the union can provide us with many concrete benefits: decent wages, a pension when we retire, access to low-cost loans through the Musicians Federal Credit Union, legal advice, and many more.
Collectively, it can provide political power to effect change on a grand scale, maintenance of across-the-industry standards for the benefit of the entire community, and the power to influence employers, thereby improving the quality of our lives. Joining a union means that you believe that all musicians and performers should be treated with the dignity and respect that the art form deserves, and that together we can have the strength to uphold the standards and values that we expect.

Union dues pay for all the services that the union provides – negotiating and administering contracts, resolving conflicts in the workplace and pursuing grievances when resolutions cannot be found, legal help for members and low-cost instrument loan, to name a few – and fair wages and benefits for the staff who provide these services.

No, but if you are hired to play in a union ensemble your best path to having a voice at your job is to join the union and participate in its efforts. Because this industry is largely audition or ensemble based, you do not have to be a member before getting a gig in a union ensemble.

To find out what type of contract may be most appropriate for your work, please visit the Contracts page on our website.

Visit our full list of employers with which we have collective bargaining agreements to find out if your employer is a signatory of Local 72-147, AFM.

Musicians who perform or file work under a union contract may qualify for the American Federation of Musicians & Employers Pension Fund. To learn more, visit our AFM-EPF page.

Royalties are residual payments made to recording musicians based on sales and/or public uses (including licensing and internet streaming) of the recorded product. In the past, record companies were obligated to make payments to all musicians who performed on the recordings they distributed and sold. While that is still true, there are so many more avenues of production and dissemination available to those who make recordings today. As a result, performers rely on performance rights organizations such as SoundExchange and the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund to monitor the various broadcast platforms and collect and distribute the payments owed. If you think you are owed royalties for your own recorded work product, please visit SoundExchange, AFM & SAG-AFTRA, or contact the AFM Electronic Media Services Division using the form below.

We cannot guarantee any musician a job, but we can guarantee that every member stands to gain from joining our community and taking collective action.
Members can register for MusicSourceDFW.com, our online referral directory.