Musicians Union Local Six

Musicians Union Local 6
116 Ninth Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Telephone: 415-575-0777
Office Hours: 10:00am to 4:00pm
Dues Department closes at 3:30pm

Welcome to the Casual / Freelance Musician page.

Get it in writing!! Getting a signed contract for your gigs protects both the musicians and the client. The Local 6 staff is available to assist you with filing contracts and pension contributions for your gigs. Our staff will...

Assist with filling out report forms, ensuring that your gig gets properly documented
Assist with understanding which AFM contracts and forms to apply to your gigs
Send pension contributions to the AFM pension fund for you

Download forms now (Adobe PDFs):
L-2 Casual Contract
LS-1 Pension Contribution Form

A partial list of what Local 6 offers casual/freelance musicians ...

Online Musician Referral Service (PRO Musician Source)
Rehearsal Space/Recording Studio
Workshops/Clinics
Career Advice
Instrument/Liability Insurance
Co-sponsorship of Shows -- The Music Performance Fund
Union Plus Programs

Online Musician Referral Service (PRO Musician Source): Register yourself and/or your group with our online referral service. We advertise PRO Musician Source in the Yellow Pages and through the SF Convention and Visitors Bureau. Check out the Hire Musicians Page.

Rehearsal Space/ Recording Studio: Members may use the Local 6 rehearsal room at a very nominal cost ($5 hr). The room is equipped with a piano, drum kit, chairs and music stands. There is also a recording studio attached. Call for details.

Workshops/Clinics: Local 6 sponsors music clinics and music business workshops. They are $10 for the general public and free for Local 6 Members. Check out our upcoming Events

Career Advice : Members can make an appointment to meet with a staff representative to get helpful career advice, and assistance in putting together promotional materials.

Low Cost Instrument/Equipment & Liability Insurance: Replacement cost insurance covering instruments and related equipment for theft and damage at home, at work and on the road is available at a very reasonable rate. Up to $2 million in liability protection is available to members through the AFM Liability Insurance Plan--Great for putting on shows in alternative spaces.

Co-Sponsorship of Shows -- The Music Performance Fund: MPF is available to co-sponsor live gigs that are free and open to the public. You must find a co-sponsoring organization. More information on the MPF web site.

Union Plus Programs: Union Plus was created by the AFL-CIO to bring union members and their families high quality consumer benefits and services. Programs include Union Plus MasterCard, Loan, Mortgage, Legal Services, and Health Needs. Check out www.unionplus.org for the latest info.

For a full list of Benefits, visit our BENEFITS page.

INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES

The Manager (interviews with three different managers of musical acts in the Bay Area)

Jazz as a Business (interview with Marshall Lamm, the publicist at Yoshi's)

Writing Your Bio
by Alex Walsh

How to Promote Your Music: The Press Release
Note: This is a PDF File (requires Adobe Acrobat Viewer).
By Alex Walsh

The Promo Kit: An Overview
Note: This is a PDF File (requires Adobe Acrobat Viewer).
By Alex Walsh

Visit our Archives for more interesting articles on a variety of topics.

USEFULL LINKS

Publishing and Copyright

SF Bay Area Media

National Media

Government

City of San Francisco official web site

U.S. Small Business Administration official web site

Local Organizations

West Coast Songwriters membership organization for songwriters

California Lawyers for the Arts lawyer referral service

NARAS (The Grammy’s) local chapter for the Recording Academy

Independent Arts & Media produces “Expo for the Artist & Musician”

H.E.A.R. dedicated to prevention of hearing loss among musicians & fans

Music in Schools Today advocate for music programs in the public schools

San Francisco Performing Arts Library documents the history of the performing arts in the San Francisco Bay Area

Career Advice & Resource Sites

Star Polish career advice, artist development

Music Business Solutions by Peter Spellman, Berklee College of Music

Tim Sweeney & Associates career advice & more

Musesmuse songwriters resource website

Just Plain Folks community of over 25,000 music industry folks

Community Musician D.I.Y. services, free & paid

Indie-Music.com D.I.Y. services, free & paid

AandROnline.com one stop resource for record labels, deals, marketing tips for musicians, music promotion, songwriting

GetSigned.com advice on A&R, record deals, getting gigs, getting promoted & getting signed

Garageband sell CD’s, promote gigs, and more

The Buzz Factor marketing tips & self-promotion ideas

Bards Crier free music marketing and promotion ezine

Vitaminic.com free web pages

GigAmerica.com free web pages

MP3.com free web pages

The Indie Bible book of contacts

Music Submission & Licensing

Taxi independent A&R, Liscensing company

Indie 911 online radio "airplay", licensing fees, and sales

PumpAudio.com licensing

Rumblefish.cc licensing

CD Manufacturing & Online Stores

Discmakers CD & DVD Manufacturing

Café-press sell merchandise online with no upfront costs (CD’s, t-shirts,etc.)

CDBaby online CD store

CDStreet online CD store

Equipment & Software

Harmony Central equipment reviews, tabs, lessons

Music Player articles and instrument forums

Free Finale Notepad music notation software

San Francisco Bay Area Schools