AFL-CIO, America’s largest union, backs American Music Fairness Act

The AFL-CIO, America’s largest union is officially backing US Congressional efforts to get musicians paid when their songs are played on broadcast radio.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. Its 56 unions represent more than 12 million active and retired workers.

Following the AFL-CIO’s unanimous passage of a resolution in support of music fairness and artists’ rights Congressman Joe Crowley, Chairman of the musicFIRST Coalition, issued this statement:

“We applaud the AFL-CIO for standing by artists and music creators and lending the strength of its 12.5 million members to the fight for passage of the American Music Fairness Act. This legislation will benefit artists across the country — including the tens of thousands who are members of SAG-AFTRA, the American Federation of Musicians and other AFL-CIO unions — by correcting a decades-long injustice fueled by corporate greed that has left artists uncompensated for the use of their songs on AM/FM radio.”

“In all other industries, paying people for their work is a basic, bedrock principle. Broadcasting shouldn’t be an exception. It’s time to fix our laws and bring the radio industry up to speed with the times by ensuring that Big Radio corporations fairly compensate artists when they play their songs. We look forward to working alongside our friends at the AFL-CIO to pass this important and long overdue legislation this year.”

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.