International Federation of Musicians

International Federation of Musicians

Federation Internationale des Musiciens
Founded	1948
Headquarters	21 bis rue Victor Massé, Paris
Location	France
Key people	Benoît Machuel (Gen Sec) John F. Smith (President)
Affiliations	IAEA
Website	fim-musicians.org

The International Federation of Musicians (French: Federation Internationale des Musiciens, FIM) is a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing music performers. FIM counts member unions in 70 countries and three regional groups in Europe, Africa and Latin America. It is a member of the Council of Global Unions.

The International Federation of Musicians (FIM) was established on August 3,1948, during a conference in Zürich, which had been organized on the initiative of the Swiss Musicians' Union. The conference brought together key figures in the music industry to address musician's rights and the need for international cooperation in protecting these rights. From 1951, it held meetings with the members of the Berne Convention, the International Labour Organization, the IFPI, and the European Broadcasting Union, to negotiate the copyright rights of musicians, establish a strong network among musicians' unions and setting the foundation for its future objectives.

For many years, the secretariat was independent of both the main international federations of trade unions, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Federation of Trade Unions, and as such, by the 1980s, it represented both unions in capitalist countries, and in communist countries such as Cuba.

In 1997, the organization affiliated to the International Arts and Entertainment Alliance. The secretariat is currently based in Paris, France.

The International Federation of Musicians' main objective is to safeguard and advance the creative, economic, and social rights of musicians as represented by its member unions. This leads to activities such as:

• Development of the worldwide organization of musicians
• International cooperation is advanced by the federation of music unions worldwide
• Supporting legislative and other actions that provide protection on a national and international level on behalf of musicians
• Reaching agreements with other international organizations for the benefit of the profession and member unions
• Acquiring and compiling statistical data and additional information on the music industry, then supplying member unions with this data
• Supporting member unions materially and morally in the interests of the profession and in line with FIM's goals

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Labor Office (ILO), and UNESCO are among the organizations with whom FIM collaborates with closely. Other initiatives include the holding of international congresses and conferences, the advancement of all efforts to make music the common property of all people, and the upkeep of ongoing relationships with other international organizations that could be of service to FIM.

The following unions were affiliated in March 2022:^[1]

1948: Rudolf Leuzinger

1982: Yvonne Burckhardt

1990s: Jean Vincent

2002-present: Benoît Machuel

1948: William Batten

1950: Hardie Ratcliffe

1973: John Morton

2004-present: John F. Smith

• Official FIM website
• Official website of the International Orchestra Conference
• Travelling with a musical instrument in compliance with CITES
• Official website of the International Arts and Entertainment Alliance (IAEA)