Congress passes Music Modernization Act

David Houck

David Houck

Experienced
Here in the US the legislature has passed a bipartisan bill that will "substantially overhaul the way music is licensed and songwriters compensated for songs online". The law "creates a new independent entity that will license songs to companies that play music online ... The nonprofit collective will then pay songwriters, including those who wrote pre-1970s classics before music copyrights protected their work".

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That's all I know at the moment (and I'm rushing to get out the door), but would like to know more. This would seem to have implications for many folks here.
 
The music industry helped sponsor this bill? It's got to be bad then. Massively bad. Shafting people is their sole business model. They've been shafting their artists ever since they got started and they've been shafting listeners for just as long as well.

Expect things to be bad. Really bad. Apocalyptically bad. That way at least the only way can be up. But I wouldn't have any high hopes for it.
 
Especially with this congress, whatever law they passed is going to be great for business, and I don't mean the artist's business.
 
David Houck said:
That's all I know at the moment (and I'm rushing to get out the door), but would like to know more. This would seem to have implications for many folks here.
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There are few aspects to the law, but the most important part is this:

It is currently difficult for Apple Music and Spotify and other streaming services to learn who to pay, and how much to pay, for the songwriting rights (mechanicals) of songs they stream. This new law makes it easier for them to pay the right amount to the right songwriter. You could argue it's for the benefit of Apple and Spotify since it makes things easier for them, but songwriters will also benefit since it makes the payment process less error-prone.
 
If I recall correctly, I've read that YouTube is the most popular source for streaming music; and again if I recall correctly, YouTube plays pay the least in royalties. So I'm wondering if the new law will impact the situation with YouTube.

iaresee said:
... Keep it about the legislation ...
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Agreed. I'm not interested in a divisive discussion about politics; I am interested in outcomes that benefit both musicians and their listeners.
 
Divisive or not - As is usually the case with new legislation... who sponsored the bill and who paid them off ( ahem, contributed to their campaign). Following the money trail most always leads to the intent / agenda - especially with this congress..
 
Jul said:
Divisive or not - As is usually the case with new legislation... who sponsored the bill and who paid them off ( ahem, contributed to their campaign). Following the money trail most always leads to the intent / agenda - especially with this congress..
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Yup. Color me a cynic, but these days politicians have more the interests of whoever contributed to their campaign at heart, or who did the best lobbying, then us the voter.
 
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