Human Made, Human Paid is an advocacy campaign organized by the AFM to safeguard professional musicians and preserve human artistry against AI exploitation.

Launched in response to major record labels withholding AI licensing revenues during SRLA bargaining, the AFM’s “Human Made, Human Paid” campaign rallies professional musicians and advocates to demand fair standards, transparency, and protection against unauthorized AI exploitation. The campaign makes one thing clear: if record labels profit from AI deals using recorded work, the artists who performed on those tracks must be fairly compensated.

“The record labels cannot pocket profits built on the backs of human artistry while cutting working musicians out of the equation,” says Tino Gagliardi, International President of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada. “Human Made, Human Paid is about consent, credit, and compensation. The AFM will not stand by and allow tech deals to bypass the very artists who made those music catalogs valuable in the first place.”

This initiative is not a fight against new technology or creative tools. Instead, it champions the fundamental rights of creators—ensuring that as music technology evolves, fair compensation keeps up.