Music Modernization Act Gets U-S Senate Introduction

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Friday introduced the Music Modernization Act. According to Variety, the fact that the Senate bill, S.2823, is virtually identical to HR 5477 – the House MMA bill passed unanimously on April 25 – signals all systems go for smooth passage and an update to music laws that the industry has been laboring to update for the past decade.

The bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee and has been scheduled for hearing Tuesday.

Having opposed the House version, background music company Music Choice as well as SiriusXM are those expected to oppose Senate passage, but they are among a small minority; the industry overwhelmingly supports the bill Hatch called “crucially important” earlier this year, stating, “our music licensing laws are convoluted, out-of-date, and don’t reward songwriters fairly for their work. They’ve also failed to keep up with recent, rapid changes in how Americans purchase and listen to music.”

The industry, including the National Association of Broadcasters,  applauded this latest move to update the nation’s music laws.

As in the House, the new Senate bill combines three separate pieces of legislation:

• The Music Modernization Act of 2018, S.2334, introduced by Hatch and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in January, which updates licensing and royalties as pertains to streaming.
• The CLASSICS Act (or Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, & Important Contributions to Society Act), introduced in February by Chris Coons (D-DE) and John Kennedy (R-LA) to ensure that songwriters and artists receive royalties on pre-1972 songs.
• The AMP Act  (or Allocation for Music Producers Act), introduced in March by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley(R-LA) and ranking committee member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA.) with the support of and Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Kamala Harris (D-CA).