Musicians who play on jingles will perform under a new two-year agreement, which became effective Oct. 17. And for the first time, jingles that are produced for podcasts, cell phones, iPods, MP3 players and other digital media will be covered by the contract, under the same provisions that previously only applied to Internet jingles.

The agreement, which is negotiated between the AFM and the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, increases the session rate to $115 from $110 and bumps up all scales by 4.5 percent.

It also adds $1 to initial use and increases health payments by $2 per session, along with an overall increase in health benefit contributions to 3 percent from the previous 2 percent.

Jingles that are created for podcasts, cell phones and other digital media are now covered by the agreement. This area of work has been termed “new media.” Musicians who record jingles for new media will earn a session fee of $115 for any minimum call session, plus $32 for the first six months of initial use, $86.25 for the second six months, and $86.25 for each subsequent 52-week period. (If the new media spot was initially made for conventional TV or radio, musicians will earn $86.25 for each 52 weeks of use.)

“This agreement is quite substantial,” Recording Supervisor Jay Schaffner told Allegro. “For the first time, we have obtained union recognition in the digital world.”

Schaffner assisted the AFM in negotiating the agreement.

See the new scales at www.Local802afm.org. Click the link to “Wage & Contract Info” from the upper right, blue bar menus.

LOCALS WIN CONTROL

In other recording news, the AFM’s International Executive Board recently allowed locals to negotiate additional terms and conditions in national recording contracts for health benefits, as long as the basic national terms remain unchanged.

Currently, most or all recording agreements are between the AFM and various national employers, like TV networks, record labels or national jingle advertisers or agencies. The AFM “owns” the recording contracts; Local 802’s role is to enforce the agreement when recording is done in our jurisdiction.

However, the IEB’s new policy will allow Local 802 to add new terms and conditions to the contracts when recording is done locally.

“This will especially help our members in the area of health payments,” Schaffner said. Local 802 will be able to negotiate additional health payments that could help members be eligible for one of the union’s health plans, for instance.

Musicians will still be playing under the standard AFM contracts, but Local 802 could negotiate a health rider that would require the employer to pay additional money towards the Local 802 health plan.

For instance, musicians who are hired to record a union jingle in New York City would enjoy the benefits of the AFM jingle agreement, but they could also earn additional benefits that Local 802 would negotiate with the employer.