ABOUT US
United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) formed in 2020 at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With our entire industry shut down, musicians started talking and realizing that we were all struggling with the same injustices. Since then, UMAW has organized tens of thousands of music workers around issues such streaming royalties, record contracts, safer venue guidelines, artist payments at SXSW, merch cuts, and more.
UMAW HISTORY
UMAW VALUES
UMAW aims to organize music workers to fight for a more just music industry and to join with other workers in the struggle for a better society.
Our vision is for musicians and allied workers:
To create and work with dignity in safe and sustainable environments.
To win fair and equitable compensation.
To reclaim and redistribute resources from the few wealthy companies that dictate the music industry to working class artists and musicians.
To support collective care through sharing mutual aid resources and information.
To build cross-movement solidarity.
To reclaim worker power in the music industry.
UMAW MISSION
UMAW started as an idea on a zoom call, an idea coming from a bunch of musicians, most of whom did not have prior organizing experience, but who believed that by coming together we could change the industry for the better.
We believe that the only way to transform music is to collectively take resources and power from the few wealthy companies that dictate our industry. We want a music industry that is equitable and just. One that pays fairly for the labor of artists and musicians, that can push back against white supremacy rather than reflect it, that builds safe spaces, and provides health care. The industry that we strive to build together is one that is democratically decided by the working class people that make up that heart of what the music industry is.
UMAW intends to build solidarity across gender, race, and border. We envision a world where we don’t have to limit our creative outputs to exchange, where social programs like Universal Basic Income, Green New Deal, and Medicare for All allow us to flourish and be creative without the yoke of capital. Until that day though, we will fight tooth and nail to protect our value, pressuring companies and our industry to pay us fairly and treat us justly
HOW UMAW WORKS
UMAW’s work is done in various subcommittees focused on specific campaigns that tackle parts of the music industry.
Current campaigns include: Fair Pay at SXSW, Justice in Streaming, #MyMerch, Music and AI, and more. Subcommittees meet weekly or by-weekly on Zoom and also have Slack channels for more accessibility.
To help connect the dots between campaigns and keep things running, UMAW has an elected steering committee that acts as the governing body of UMAW. It is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the work of UMAW. The Steering Committee’s position is derived democratically from UMAW’s membership.
The UMAW Steering Committee is responsible for: endorsing or boosting other groups’ actions (some of which will be sensitive info pre-launch), scheduling and planning out large union-wide activities, actions and campaigns whether on behalf of subcommittees or in coordination with them, and overseeing day-to-day operations.