Welcome to the first installment of our AGMAzine Spotlight: 90th Anniversary Archive Series, where we revisit the publications that shaped AGMA’s history.
According to our archive, the first issue of what would eventually become AGMAzine was published in 1936. It was not yet a magazine or branded. It was simply called “The Bulletin,” a typewritten communication sent to members of the American Guild of Musical Artists.
The Bulletin would be published monthly and would serve as a tool for member participation in the Guild’s affairs. The editors made clear that it was “as much for the membership to write as it is for it to read,” describing it as a necessary means of intercommunication at a time when it was “practically impossible” to gather the full membership in one meeting. (Imagine if we could introduce them to Zoom??)
Members were urged to use its pages to suggest policy, propose channels of activity, and bring working conditions to light. Contributions could be submitted personally or anonymously. The publication was conceived not as a top-down announcement sheet, but as a democratic forum and a structured way for members to shape their union’s direction.
In 1937, the title evolved to “AGMA: The Official Organ of the American Guild of Musical Artists,” and the publication began to take on a more magazine-like format. The name AGMAzine itself would not appear until sometime between 1940 and 1946, as AGMA’s communications continued to develop.
Over the decades that followed, however, a consistent monthly publication did not always exist. Like many institutions, AGMA’s communications ebbed and flowed depending on staffing, resources, and priorities. AGMAzine became more of a quarterly publication, then later a biannual publication.
In 2020, when AGMA hired its first Director of Communications, the Union returned to a regular publishing cadence with the launch of a monthly digital newsletter distributed to members by email. This is separate from AGMAzine and called “The AGMA Newsletter.” Since then, it has been sent every month, reestablishing the steady rhythm first envisioned in 1936.
Nearly 90 years later, the underlying purpose of AGMAzine remains to inform members, connect them to one another, and provide a platform for participation in their union’s affairs.
All early issues of The Bulletin can be read by visiting AGMA’s website and exploring the 1936 section of the AGMAzine Archives.