Hollywood musicians have reached a tentative agreement with major entertainment companies after a month of negotiations.
The American Federation of Musicians, which represents about 3,000 instrumentalists working in the film and television industry, announced Friday that its bargaining committee had unanimously recommended new film and television contracts negotiated by the union and the Producers Alliance of Film and Television.
The provisional agreement will affect musicians who record scores for films and television series and who occasionally appear on screen in musical scenes.
“This agreement is a major victory for musicians who have long received insufficient compensation for their work in the digital age,” Tino Gagliardi, international president and chief negotiator of the AFM, said in a statement.
The union said terms of the proposed three-year contract, which expired in November and was extended for six months, will be released after members vote on it.
“We have made historic progress in waste transmission, established critical barriers against the misuse of AI, achieved significant wage increases, and made other important improvements,” Gagliardi added. “This agreement represents a watershed moment for the artists who create the soundtracks for countless film and television productions.”
The agreement was reached just over a week before the alliance plunges into another round of contract negotiations with IATSE and Teamsters, two unions representing Hollywood crew members.
On March 4, all eyes will be on the team as low-level workers negotiate for higher wages and labor protections in the wake of overlapping strikes by writers and actors, which left thousands of IATSE members out of work.
Gagliardi on Friday thanked the writers, actors and crew unions for their support, which he hailed as “another powerful reminder that when we have solidarity in the union movement, we can achieve great things.”
AMPTP representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Marc Sazer, a Los Angeles violinist who currently serves as vice president of AFM Local 47, offered “congratulations to the musicians themselves” for coming together and turning their community “into something much more cohesive than ever before.”
A key priority for the AFM in entering contract negotiations was establishing a residual pay system for Hollywood musicians working for streaming platforms, a system that did not previously exist.
Sazer and his fellow Hollywood musicians plan to celebrate this weekend at a Studio City bar called Residuals.
