A Musicians' Union Takes Its AI Fight to the Bargaining Table

Most AI-and-music headlines are about songwriters, publishers and record companies. This one is about the people who played and sang on the recordings. The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) launched a public campaign called Human Made, Human Paid just before contract talks with the major labels restart. It surfaced in the trade press around October 21 and 22, and the AFM's own press release is dated October 23, 2026.

Hypebot reports that the AFM represents more than 80,000 professional musicians in the U.S. and Canada.

What the union is asking for

The campaign site boils it down to three demands. Musicians must authorize the use of their work in AI development. They should be credited when their work is used for training. And they should be paid when their work contributes to AI systems or music generation. Each demand has its own slogan: "No replication without authorization!" for consent, "We should be named if our work is used to train!" for credit, and "If AI learns, we should earn!" for compensation.

The union says it is not against technology. In the press release, AFM International President Tino Gagliardi said, "Human Made, Human Paid is about consent, credit, and compensation." The AFM wants binding guardrails in its upcoming contracts, and Complete Music Update (CMU) reports that it calls its three requirements non-negotiable.

Those three words are everywhere in AI music right now. Spotify's co-CEO said in May that its planned AI covers and remixes feature is "grounded in consent, credit, and compensation," TechCrunch reported. The AFM wants such principles written into the contracts that cover performers.

Why now: the label contract

The talks are over the Sound Recording Labor Agreement, or SRLA. AFM Local 47 describes it as the agreement that sets pay and working conditions for musicians on recordings released commercially. According to the campaign site, the bargaining parties are Universal, Sony, Warner and Hollywood Records, and talks resume on November 3, 2026. CMU reports that after four rounds of bargaining, negotiations "remain ongoing and stalled" while the union pushes for AI protections.

The AFM says the major labels are "withholding AI licensing revenues during SRLA bargaining." CMU quotes the union as saying the labels warn that AI music could replace human artists while licensing their catalogs to AI platforms "for massive corporate payouts while paying recording musicians zero." Those are the union's claims. The coverage reviewed does not include a label reply to the campaign.

The lawsuit behind the campaign

The campaign sits next to a federal lawsuit. Music Business Worldwide (MBW) reports that the AFM first sued on June 5, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. An amended complaint filed July 24 names Universal Music Group, Warner Records and Atlantic Recording Corp. The union says the labels licensed recordings made by its members to Suno and Udio "without compensation or credit."

The claim rests on Article 21 of the SRLA, a "new use" clause. The AFM reads it as requiring payment to musicians, and notice to the union, when recordings are used for a purpose the agreement does not cover. It argues that licensing recordings to train generative AI models is such a use.

New-use payments are an old idea in the union's contracts. AFM Local 47 says musicians "will receive new-use payments if their product is utilized in another medium," with examples such as a theatrical motion picture, a TV film or a commercial announcement. The AFM argues AI training belongs in the same family.

The labels disagree. Universal argued that Article 21(a) is "a rate-conversion provision, not an open-ended royalty provision." Warner called the suit an "improper attempt to place a judicial thumb on the negotiation scales." Both asked Judge Edgardo Ramos to dismiss it. Outside court, they have described their AI deals in positive terms: Universal called its Udio settlement a "commitment to do what's right by our artists and songwriters," and Warner CEO Robert Kyncl called the Suno deal "a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone," MBW reports.

MBW's July report listed a briefing schedule on the motions to dismiss that ran through September 11. The sources reviewed for this article report no ruling.

The deals at issue are the label settlements covered in The Settlement Wave. Other groups who say they were left out are in The Artists the AI Settlements Left Behind. The AFM's argument is narrower and contractual: if recordings made under its agreement are licensed for AI, the people who performed on them should be paid and credited.

What is pending

• November 3: contract talks between the AFM and the major labels resume.
• The labels' motions to dismiss the AFM's New York lawsuit.
• Any public response from the labels to the campaign.
• The campaign's public petition, which supporters can sign at HumanMadeHumanPaid.com.

What it means for independent artists

Session players, backing vocalists and featured performers are often not the writers. When AI money flows to catalog owners, the people who performed on the recordings can end up outside the conversation. That gap is what this campaign targets, whatever you think of the union's legal reading.

If you hire musicians for your own recordings, a little paperwork goes a long way. Write down who performed on each track, how each person will be paid and credited, and which uses of the recording are allowed, including whether it may be used to train AI. Enter performer credits accurately when you deliver to your distributor. For anything binding, check with a music attorney.

Credit is the thread through this month's AI news, from the publishers' complaints to the AFM's demands. On Starchild, partners keep their copyright and earn 50% of each sale, minus the payment fee, and every license comes with a certificate naming the writers, which anyone can check at /verify.

Sources

• American Federation of Musicians: AFM Launches "Human Made, Human Paid" Campaign to Fight AI Exploitation (press release, October 23, 2026)
• Human Made, Human Paid: campaign site
• Complete Music Update: Major labels are getting "massive corporate payouts" for AI licensing but "paying musicians zero"
• Hypebot: AFM launches Human Made, Human Paid AI music campaign
• Music Business Worldwide: US musicians' union files amended lawsuit against Universal and Warner over Suno and Udio AI deals
• AFM Local 47: Sound Recording Labor Agreement
• TechCrunch: Spotify and Universal Music strike deal allowing fan-made AI covers and remixes