Over the past four decades we have seen new issues and technologies overwhelming professional musicians, changing the way music is created, performed and recorded. The AFM has struggled with these challenges, has sometimes resisted them and has sometimes been seen as marginal by younger musicians developing new styles.

There is a need to explore fundamental issues in music, as we move into the future, to understand the new technologies and promote new approaches that preserve musical traditions while sustaining the creativity that has given rise to them. The AFM needs to come to terms with these changes and re-establish its relevance as a support structure for working musicians.

In 2008, the Canadian Conference of the AFM will be hosted in St. John’s by AFM Local 820, The Newfoundland and Labrador Musicians’ Association. Rather than simply hosting an internal conference of representatives of the musicians’ associations in Canada, we have decided to hold some special events prior to the Canadian Conference to deeply examine four major issues facing music and musicians as we move into the future.

• How will musicians protect their rights and obtain income in the digital age?
• How will live performance survive and change in the future?
• How will new technology affect music education and creativity?
• How can the AFM best support and assist musicians as music changes?

This will be a high profile international event, with speakers, performers and delegates converging on St. John’s from across the continent, to create a new vision and generate policies for the future of the music industry and professional musicians.