Artists' Union Claims Wrongdoing

Controversy surrounds the payment to musicians who worked in Country Music star Toby Keith’s latest movie, Beer For My Horses. Reports say that the company that made the movie, B4MH Productions, has failed to sign the contract that the musician’s union put together that gives session musician’s compensation from DVD sales, said Harold Bradley, the president of the Nashville Association of Musicians.

Bradley said that the contract is something all production companies making movies involving the musicians generally sign. It gives the musicians scale wages and working conditions, along with payment for 1 percent of the sales of DVDs.

B4MH and Show Dog Records, Toby Keith’s label, released statements saying that they have fulfilled the requirements laid out by the contract and the accusations from the union are misleading and wrong. Show Dog Records released a statement refuting the allegations.

“Show Dog Records has paid musicians as required by the AFM (American Federation of Musicians) for their work on Show Dog Records recordings including on the Beer For My Horses album; it will pay them a second time as required by the AFM for inclusions of those recordings in the film; and it will pay them additional AFM residual compensation based upon sales of the album,” said the company. Bradley begs to differ.

“This same situation happened once before on Toby Keith’s first film, Broken Bridges, where the musicians did not receive the appropriate payments,” Bradley said in the Tennesseean. “It is unfortunate when some producers come to Nashville and think they are in Hicksville (such as the Fox series Nashville) and try to take advantage of our wonderfully talented musicians.”