Birth of Sonart
The three Swiss music trade associations SMS, AMS and ASM will merge on January 1, 2018.
On November 25, 2017, the members of the three Swiss music associations AMS (Association des Musiciens Suisses - pop/rock), SMS (Syndicat Musical Suisse SMS - jazz and improvisation) and ASM (Association Suisse des Musiciens ASM - new music), voted in favor of merging them into a new association named Sonart - Association Suisse de Musique. In so doing, they have sent out a strong signal for the strengthening of the Swiss music scene.
Stronger together
The ever-changing needs and professional interests of freelance musicians in Switzerland mean that the ranks are closing. It's precisely when it comes to important transgenerational issues that the size, and therefore the strength, of an association is crucial in making its voice heard in the political arena. By pooling the many common and frequently identical activities in the fields of services, cultural policy, information and administration, the new association will be able to use its staff resources more efficiently and concentrate even more on stage work.
Our commitment
Sonart will promote the interests of professional musicians of all kinds throughout Switzerland and in all language regions, with particular emphasis on independent musical activity. The association will focus in particular on the areas of cultural policy, the music market and social welfare, offering a wide range of services in the fields of further training, self-management and independence. It will fight for politically optimal and economically equitable framework conditions, perform scene-setting and networking work, advise its members on important topics such as social and occupational benefits, and campaign for adequate representation of relevant artistic developments.
Personnel
Until the first Annual General Meeting in 2018, the new association will be co-chaired by the three current presidents of the merging associations: Marianne Doran (SMS), Christoph Trummer (AMS) and Käthi Gohl-Moser (ASM). What's more, the parties involved were keen to take over the existing staff, and this will be the case.
