Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/879767
S AG-AFTRA's newly formed Music Department has been on the road in 2017. From the Coachella Valley to Austin and from Nashville to New York, the union has been at key industry events to raise awareness of its role in the world of music. The department serves as your voice in music, but it has more than just recording artists in mind. fcially unveiled May , the new department brings together under one umbrella sound recordings, music videos, singers and dancers. As SAG-AFTRA continues to enhance its representation of featured artists, session singers and dancers, combining categories was a natural way to improve service to members, said SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts fcer Ray Rodrigue. "With the new department, we're going to be even more focused on members and better positioned to address the needs of this diverse group of performers," said Rodrigue. The new department is led by Stefanie Taub, national director of music. SAG-AFTRA is truly your voice in music. Here are this year's highlights from the former Sound Recordings Department and the rst months of the new Music Department: JANUARY The SAG-AFTRA National Singers Committee, led by Chair Janice Pendarvis, and the New York Local hosted a celebration of the union's vital recording artist and singer community. This networking event brought together SAG-AFTRA members who work in all facets of the New York music scene to energie the community and to educate them about how the union works for them. FEBRUARY SAG-AFTRA participated in a variety of Grammy-related events in support of our recording artist members. First, the union invited Aloe Blacc and Murs to help honor 39-year member Tom Petty as the MusiCares Person of the Year. Then, the union attended the Grammy Foundation Entertainment Law Initiative luncheon, which is a gathering of of the most powerful attorneys in the industry. MARCH SAG-AFTRA's Music Department joined with performance rights organiation BMI to showcase SAG-AFTRA talent at South by Southwest, the Austin, Texas, interactive, lm and music conference. APRIL The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has turned into a must-attend for Southern California music-lovers. This year, SAG-AFTRA's Music Department co-hosted the Interscope Records pool party that featured member artists Lana Del Rey, D.R.A.M. and Torrei Hart. In addition, SAG-AFTRA's Los Angeles Dancers Committee joined Dancers Alliance to co-host a master dance class with two top choreographers. The department isn't just focusing on outreach and education. April also saw SAG-AFTRA reach a successor agreement with the major record labels to the industrywide contract covering dancers and other performers on music videos. The deal provides the rst-ever share of revenues from the streaming of music videos for performers at . percent of the labels' gross revenue for covered music videos. It established minimum rates for the rst time for dancers in music videos with budgets between $100,000 and $200,000. And, also for the rst time, the agreement recognies and covers background actors in music videos with a budget greater than ,, with the rst background actors in each music video covered. This will create an estimated , new union jobs for background performers over two years. JUNE In the mid-Atlantic region, SoundExchange's Summer Music Celebration was co-sponsored by SAG-AFTRA and held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The event, which helped raise funds for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, featured SAG-AFTRA member 32 SAG-AFTRA | Summer/Fall 2017 | SAGAFTRA.org New Music Department Hitting High Notes New Music Department Hitting High Notes