Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund Marks 50th Anniversary
Jon Burlingame editorThe Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund, which collects and distributes residuals to union musicians who play on films and TV shows, will mark its 50th anniversary in 2022.It’s become a financial lifeline for many musicians, from helping them to achieve financial security to being a primary income source during their retirement years.Every July 1, the FMSMF sends checks to nearly 17,000 working musicians, retired musicians, and the beneficiaries of musicians who’ve passed away.According to executive director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, this money constitutes about 1 percent of the so-called “producers’ gross receipts” from the sale of a film or TV show into a “secondary market”: free TV, cable TV, streaming services, home