Organize
Standing together, we’re stronger than any one of us standing alone.
When musicians stand united, we gain something no individual contract or handshake deal can provide: real, enforceable power. Standing together in practice looks like:
- Free, legally enforceable contracts backed by 70,000 members across North America.
- Royalty recovery. Our institution is dedicated to finding and fighting for the royalties and residuals owed to you.
- Protection from AI theft. Collective action to take on powerful companies that are stealing our recordings and trying to replace us with AI.
- A reporting system to protect us from unfair treatment and abuse on the job.
- A multiemployer pension plan. A retirement safety net built specifically for working musicians.
- Insurance programs designed for musicians and working bands.
Sound Familiar? The Anti-Musician Bingo Card
We’ve all been there: standing in a venue, exhausted after a great set, when the conversation about compensation takes a familiar, disheartening turn. As a working musician, chances are you’ve encountered a whole range of tales to justify paying musicians less than their worth.
The Anti-Musician Bingo Card is a collection of the most common, and often most manipulative, tactics employers and venue owners use to avoid paying musicians fairly. This card is not a game, it’s a mirror reflecting a reality that needs to change.
How many squares have you filled in your career?
Stand Up Together and Win Your Rights!
The Anti-Musician Bingo Card validates the shared struggles of musicians everywhere. It reminds us that these low-ball offers and excuses are not personal failures, but a widespread, systemic issue.
By joining together in a union, musicians trade the isolation of one-on-one negotiation for the confidence of collective power. The goal is not to stop playing, but to ensure that when we do play, we are treated and paid like the essential professionals we are.
Download a printable copy of the Anti-Musician Bingo Card.
Learn more about Organizing Basics.