In consideration of the governmental orders permitting the resumption of in-person recordings, the American Federation of Musicians announced that effective June 22, 2020, its temporary waiving of leader scale for remote recording under the Sound Recording Labor Agreement, the Basic Theatrical Motion Picture Agreement and Basic Television Motion Picture Agreement is hereby lifted and all contract terms shall resume as usual.
If you are called for a remote recording session, you should expect to be paid leader pay, which means that you will be paid double scale for your work.
The collective bargaining agreements for Film, TV and Sound Recording require that musicians recording alone, including via remote recording, receive payment of at least double scale. In April, because government directives were issued that temporarily prohibited musicians from gathering together in studios due to COVID-19, the only way that recording could take place was through individual remote recording. In order to support employment of musicians, the AFM demonstrated flexibility by issuing letters to both the film and TV companies and the record labels authorizing a temporary reinterpretation of the contracts to allow single scale to be paid for section players recording remotely, as long as a requisite number of musicians was employed.
Circumstances have again changed. Following new direction from the State of California, the County of Los Angeles issued guidelines allowing our industry, and music recording in particular, to reopen. Accordingly, the AFM has sent letters to the employer groups announcing that as of June 22, all of the normal requirements of our contracts have been restored.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our offices:
- Sound Recording: 323.993.3170
- Film/TV: 323.993.3182
