On the recordJanuary 24, 2018
I rise with my good friend from Tennessee to discuss some truly landmark legislation we are introducing today that is long overdue. It is called the Music Modernization Act, and it will reshape the music licensing landscape to bring it into the 21st century. As a songwriter myself, I have a deep interest in music issues and in ensuring we have a music licensing system that works. Unfortunately, our music licensing laws have not kept pace with technological change. We have an outdated, antiquated system that is designed for the era of CDs and cassette tapes rather than the era of digital streamlining and audio on demand. Most of us rarely think about the complex laws that govern who can listen to what music when and who gets paid when we purchase an MP3 or listen to an interactive stream. We pay our money to iTunes or the streaming service without thinking about how that money then gets distributed to dozens or even hundreds of actors across the music industry. You have songwriters and publishers and recording artists and record labels. You have agents and broadcasters and streaming services and performing rights organizations. You have multiple copyrights across multiple individuals for the same song. It is a dense, interconnected web of licenses, rights, and legal obligations that all need and should be carefully calibrated, but our current regime is not well calibrated--far from it.…
