The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees announced on Monday that music supervisors at Netflix have petitioned with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a unionization vote. If successful, the music supervisors at the streamer will have their own bargaining unit affiliated with the below-the-line entertainment workers union.
IATSE is confident that such a vote would overwhelmingly pass, as earlier this year the vast majority of music supervisors at Netflix were among the 75% of all supervisors working in the entertainment industry who requested voluntary recognition of their union. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Netflix and other studios in labor negotiations, declined this request. Netflix declined to comment.
Music supervisors are responsible for curating the licensed music used in films and television shows, working with directors and showrunners to create original songs, find the best pre-existing songs for specific scenes, and to find alternative songs when the ones that directors request have royalty costs that exceed a project’s budget.
The work of these music supervisors can significantly influence a film or show’s cultural impact, and revive interest in the songs featured. Earlier this year, the Netflix show “Stranger Things,” with the key help of veteran music supervisor Nora Felder, pushed Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” to the top of the Billboard charts decades after their initial release after they were prominently featured in the show’s fourth season.
Netflix contracts more music supervisors than any other studio in Hollywood, but music supervisors are among the very few positions in the entertainment industry that do not have labor representation. IATSE, with the help of the nonprofit organization Guild of Music Supervisors, has worked over the past two years to organize a unionization push, demanding the healthcare and retirement plans that other below-the-line workers earn through IATSE, regulations to eliminate months-long delays in pay, and standardized pay rates to eliminate discrimination and pay disparities.
