Union signs $100 an hour games deal with Microsoft

By norman lebrecht
on June 11, 2014

The American Federation of Musicians, which is at war with some of its own composer members, has reached a new deal with Microsoft. Composers get paid $300 for three hour stints and own no further rights in their work for an extended period.

Doesn’t seem like much of a deal to us. Details here.

Tommy says:

June 11, 2014 at 9:09 am

“Doesn’t seem like much of a deal to us”. In what way?

Derek Gleeson says:

June 11, 2014 at 12:10 pm

There seems to be some mis information being put out, according to industry personal posting on FB:

“It is especially a win-win if people actually understand what it means, including that Microsoft didn’t sign anything, isn’t planning on becoming a signatory company, has kept open the option to record elsewhere non-union, hasn’t been ratified, and hasn’t been accepted by any other company. Knowing what someone is celebrating is pretty important.”

NYMike says:

June 11, 2014 at 6:05 pm

It’s not a deal with composers, but with games producer Microsoft. The $300 per 3-hour session applies to musicians recording the tracks. I question the validity of the “industry personal posting on FB” – no doubt an axe-grinding group.

Norman, your anti-AFM stance grows tiresome. In the USA without a musicians’ union, professional musicians would be driving cabs when not actually playing.