An agreement was reached with American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio that extends AFM’s current contract by three years. Musicians working on over twenty public radio programs including Performance Today and Prairie Home Companion are covered under this contract.

Important to this agreement are groundbreaking new media provisions that establish use fees and residual payments for musicians whose public radio performances are licensed to interactive digital service providers such as YouTube, Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix. In addition to a new use fee payable to each musician whose performance is embodied in any clip or program exhibited via new media, 5% of producers’ gross receipts derived from the license for exhibition of any clip or program will be distributed half (2.5%) to the AFM and Employers Pension Fund, unallocated to any particular individual, and half (2.5%) to musicians.

Musicians working under the new contract will receive 2.5% wage increases in each year of the contract. Health, welfare and pension benefits are also maintained and protected in the contract.