American Guild of Musical Artists - Term Paper Example

American Guild of Musical Artists al Affiliation American Guild of Musical Artists Historical Background On March 11, 1936, a group of prominent American musical artists came together and developed an idea of founding a union for themselves. The union founded was named American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). Lawrence Tibbett became the first President of the union with his fellow solo music artists Alma Gluck and Jascha Heifetz became the first vice presidents. The guild had more than twenty initial members and an advisory board which comprised of the veteran musicians, the pioneer members, and executive had one main goal, to get rid of unfair labor practices and abuses that had greatly affected many of the musical artists in their profession. AGMA was focused on negotiations concerning the pay and remunerations, terms of employment and improved workplace conditions for the musicians who had begun to be considered as professionals. Also, the union desired to establish a platform where musicians would promote common interests and goals to grow the musical arts and culture (musicalartists.org). The growth of the union led it to the union becoming an affiliate member of a larger group of artists, the Associated Actors, and Artistes of America, in 1937. The Union also merged with Grand Opera Artists Association. The Grand Opera Choral Alliance was also incorporated in the group in 1938 to strengthen the union. The strength of this union led to the collective bargaining agreement between AGMA and Metropolitan Opera, and the success made the artists attached to the union even more confidence in the representation. By 1940, the union had bargained so many contracts with opera companies throughout the United States. During these years, top on their agenda included sick leave and social security benefits. The union also established a relief fund to help the aged and ailing members of the group. This fund was financed by the Theatre authority (musicalartists.org). With the emergence of new music genres and development of the entertainment industry, performers and dancers became a big part of the music industry. These groups found their place in the industry and soon needed union protection. AGMA became the first choice for them and their enrollment became an opening for other dance companies organized in the country to also seek representation. By 1986, the union had gathered more than 5,000 members with 3.000 of them being based in the New York. During this time, the Union had offices throughout the United States and had a daily duty to negotiate contracts and handle local problems in these regions. Currently, the organization has exclusive jurisdiction over all labor aspects of its members and many performing artists in America are currently under AGMA contracts. Membership AGMA effectively protects its members. The union has been tasked with the duty to negotiate contracts for the members and initiate collective bargaining with employers and contractors. With these efforts, members enjoy a good working environment and are compensated effectively for rehearsals, overtimes and regulated working hours. Vacations and sick pays are also included in the benefits that members receive from the labor organization. With an active membership, dispute resolution and protection of the artist against any form of abuse or discrimination is guaranteed. Members subscribe to the organization on an annual basis and also forward part of their earnings in each negotiated contract to the finances of the organization. With these contributions, the organization can pay for the offices, the office workers and also for the negotiations done on behalf of the artists. The executive salaries and other expenses are also settled from these contributions. A one-time initiation fee of $500 is paid by new members and an annual subscription of $78 payable each December for the next calendar year (musicalartists.org). During the founding of the union, membership was intended for the music artists and more specifically the solo music artists of the time. This is because the founding artists belonged to this group and had first to deal with the problems facing them as a specific group. However, as the union grew and had relationships with other groups with similar interests, its scope of service and jurisdiction also grew. The target of the group grew not only geographically but also regarding inclusion. The membership terms rapidly grew to include almost all people involved in the entertainment industry. Musicians, dancers, opera artists and singers are now all included in the scope of the union. Currently, the union represents all artists, men, and women who are in the operatic, choral and dance areas of the entertainment industry. The organization has currently more than 8,000 members are drawn from all over the music and entertainment industry (musicalartists.org). Currently, there are several classes of membership in the organization. The Active Solo members are those Solo artists who have performed or at one time intend to perform for pay in the organization. Active stage directors, stage managers are the two other classes of membership recognized. The guild also classifies active chorus members, choreographers and dance members in the membership. In addition to the active groups, persons who have assisted the guild or the profession by providing distinguished services and recognized by the board as deserving is given honorary membership. The organization also has charter members and active life members who besides being actively involved in the guild offer distinguished services. The graph below shows the membership trends for the guild in the United States. Figure 1. Membership Trends for AGMA in US, 2000-2013 All active members with good standing status can claim all the privileges of membership including benefits and representation. Further, these members have rights to property of the guild. Membership in the guild may be terminated either by member’s resignation, or expulsion by the board. The member whose membership has been terminated cannot claim any benefits or rights over assets and property. However, all termination and re-application for membership must be consented by the board upon investigations. In the case of termination, all the dues of the member must be paid, and any debt to the guild duly settled before membership is terminated. Headquarters The union is well structured and has more than ten offices scattered all over the United States of America. The offices are divided into areas with the headquarters, dubbed area 01 being in New York. This office serves the area around Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and those artists outside the United States. Other offices are in Southern California, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, New England, Texas and NorthWest areas of Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. Dues and Financials To acquire a membership to the union and be in a position to enjoy the benefits of representation, members have the obligation to pay several types of fees. First, members must pay basic dues of $78 that are paid once a year. These fees are billed by the organization at the start of rehearsal period at the initiation stage. For the annual pay in the subsequent years, the dues are paid before 1st January of each year. It is the members’ obligation to ensure that this money is forwarded in good time to retain a good status of membership. However, the organization sends invoices to members at the end of each year to ensure that this money is forwarded. Failure to pay these annual dues for three months into the year makes the members lose their good standing status. The members are also suspended and made ineligible to contract with an AGMA company (musicalartists.org). The second due paid by the members is the initiation fee. This fee is payable as a one-time fee of $500. This amount is not paid immediately the artist becomes a member but is deducted from the earnings of the artist from contracts with AGMA companies have reached $2000, or within three years since the signing of membership. As in the case of the basic annual dues, failure to pay the initiation fee makes the member lose their status and is also ineligible to work for AGMA signatory companies. Thirdly, members are supposed to submit part of their earnings to the union. These earnings are dubbed working dues and amount to 2% of the gross income of the artist from AGMA signatory companies. This fee is, however, applicable to the first $100,000 earned each year from the companies. Income over and above the first $100,000 is not subject to these deductions. The deductions are made automatically by the paying company, and the member has the responsibility to verify this deduction each time they are paid. In case the members are paid in check, it is their obligation to submit the deductions to the organization. Failure to submit the deductions makes the member lose their good standing status and are also shut out of further engagement with the organization. With the growing membership, the finances of the organization have been growing each year as shown in the graph below. Figure 1. AGMA Finances 2000-2013      Assets      Liabilities      Receipts      Disbursements Spending of the Guild The dues collected from the members and their activities are put into one account that serves the union with all its expenses. The guild spends most of its money on salaries and rental payments for their offices that are located in the busiest areas of each city where they are present. The figures for such spending have not been made public by the organization, but there are rumors that the union recently went bankrupt. The bankruptcy could have arisen from the increase in the cost of living and the challenges of membership. The number of new members has significantly reduced between 2000 and 2013 yet the subscription fees and the dues that the members pay have not been revised to cater for the increase in the cost of living (musicalartists.org). The guild also run a parallel retirement plan and health insurance fund from the money collected. The fund is available for all active members upon retirement and in the case of an illness respectively. In addition to these spending, the guild also spends so much on luxurious vacations and meetings that take most of the funds contributed by the members each year. In each of these frequent events, which are held in the top prize hotels and conferences areas, hundreds of thousand dollars have been spent. This lavish spending could be the cause of the feared bankruptcy and cash-flow problems facing the guild. The Executive and their Salaries The union is governed by a board of governors who give direction and control all the affairs, properties and the funds of the guild. The board currently consists of 75 members who are elected by the guild members to stay in office for four years. However, each two years, half of the board is replaced and hence at any given point in time, half of the board are serving their first two years while the other half are serving their second two years of office. In case a position is left vacant, the board appoints a member to the position until the next election is held. The executive officers of the Board are the President, Five Vices, a Recording Secretary and a Treasurer. The executive and the rest of the members receive monthly salaries from the funds contributed by the active members and funding organizations. The salaries average from $100,000 to $150, 000 each month. In addition to the monthly salaries, the board members receive allowances for any meetings held. With the number of meetings being at least twelve in a year, according to the guild’s constitution, the allowances also confer an economic burden to the guild members. The salary scale of the top officials is as shown in the table below. Official Annual Salary 1 National Executive Director $295,121 2 Director Of Operations $205,130 3 Associate Executive Director $165,238 4 National Genre Executives $155,872 5 Area Executives $138,189 6 Executive Administrator $129, 765 Major Issues Besides the issues of bankruptcy affecting the union, the members have also been forced to risk their careers and income by contracting with companies that are not signatories to the guild. This has adversely affected the inflow of cash for the organization leading to losses. In addition, some companies have been forced out of the signatories list due to unfairness and improper treatment of artists who perform for them. These companies, after decertification, have made a movement to convince some major artists to leave the union. Even today, the major political and social situation that led to the formation of the union are still a bother to the industry. There are still many artists who are rehearsing and performing in companies without any compensation while others work in undesirable conditions, have their wages delayed and or are mistreated in their workplace. This may be due to the poor publicity of the importance of the union or improper management that makes most of the artists lose trust with the organization. Unfair Labor Practices Labor organizations are formed to bring together workers in a specific industry and provide a voice for them. The organizations also provide a platform where the members can present their claims and grievances. The registered organization then become the voice of the workers and present the grievances to the appropriate authorities for resolution. Organizations, therefore, find themselves engaged in discussions about unfair labor practices that affect their respective industry. AGMA is no exception; it has repeatedly dealt with unfair labor practices and injustices committed to musical artists in America. The unfair labor practices that the union has dealt with range from harassment to economic disputes. The Union has a system of receiving complaints from the members in case of unfair treatment by employers. The unfairness includes delayed wages, failure of payment of rehearsals wages and unfair compensation. Sexual harassment has also been reported by some artists who feel that some managers make inappropriate advances towards them. Racial discrimination issues have also been a subject of concern for a long time in the music industry. Many artists complained that the compensation received was racial biased. These are a few of the unfair practices that the guild seeks to address on behalf of the artists. This representation makes the companies signatory to the guild subject to fairness and scrutiny in the case of reports indicating otherwise. The guild represents the artists and covers them from victimization and unfair treatment. The guild also negotiates for the fairness of payment for events and thus the artists do not have to spend the time to bargain with employers (musicalartists.org). Being part of a strong labor organization is crucial for any professional. The desire to make money out of personal efforts in a capitalistic society is always affected by the selfish desire of employers especially if the industry is flooded and strict. Some employers, therefore, look for instances where they can make more from a person’s efforts and hence unfairly compensate them or fail to recognize their efforts altogether. However, being part of a union, professionals are shielded from unfair practices such as non-payment of dues and any form of harassment or discrimination. AGMA stands for fairness and professional handling of issues affecting the members (musicalartists.org). The members thus have the obligation to care for the union and abide by the rules and regulations of the union. In addition, the union being a non-profit making entity must have funds to run its activities. The protected members have the obligation to contribute to this course and also enjoy the benefits. Summary The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) is a labor organization that is almost eighty years old. The organization was formed by musical artists with the vision to challenge the industry and ensure that the efforts of the artists were adequately and fairly compensated. The union also sought to establish a professional relationship between artists and the companies that has contracted them. In the perspective of the union, member artists must contract with the companies that is signatories with the union. This way, the union can represent the artist and handle all the disputes related to the artists pay and their treatment at the workplace. The union also investigates issues concerning racial, sexual and other forms of harassment and discrimination within the companies. The membership of the organization is based on the ability of the artist to pay the initial registration fee and annual subscription. This money is used to cater for the representation fee, salaries to the officials and board members as well as being part of the retirement and health insurance fund. The rest of the money in this fund comes from the contracting companies where the member artists work. The artists benefits once subscribed and registered include free representation to the companies contracting and also consultation. The guild also takes up any case related to unfair labor practices reported by the members. The compensations received by the members in case of settlement of such a case is forwarded to the artist with a small percentage retained by the union. References American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). http://www.musicalartists.org/membership_information/AGMA%20Constitution%20-%20REVISED%20as%20of%20August%2022%202011%20-%20Board%20approved%20101512.pdf American Guild of Musical Artists. http://www.musicalartists.org/index.html Guide to the American Guild of Musical Artists Records WAG.209. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive, 2007. http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/wag_209/bioghist.html Read More