From BenZinga:
On Tuesday, Congress passed the Music Modernization Act, which President Trump is expected to sign into law within the next two weeks.
. . . .
Despite the complete digitization of the music industry, today’s business operates under the same royalty laws established back in 1909. The MMA will update many of these laws and ensure that song writers, producers and performers get a fair deal.
First, the MMA will ensure that royalties are paid on songs recorded prior to 1972, which currently aren’t subject to royalty requirements. Second, the MMA will compel streaming services, such as Spotify Technology, Pandora Media, Inc. and Apple, Inc. iTunes to work with publishers to streamline the licensing process and pay producer royalties. Finally, the MMA creates the Music Licensing Collective, an organization that will be responsible for collecting and distributing royalty payments starting in 2021.
. . . .
On the surface, the MMA may seem like bad news for streaming services, which will now have a new level of accountability when it comes to royalty payments and licensing. However, the MMA also includes a provision prohibiting artists and producers from suing the streaming services for any licensing violations that occurred in the past. This single provision eliminates a huge potential uncertainty for investors and major potential liability for streaming companies like Spotify and Pandora.
Link to the rest at BenZinga
“Finally, the MMA creates the Music Licensing Collective, an organization that will be responsible for collecting and distributing royalty payments starting in 2021.”
Not that the little guys and gals will see a penny of it.
I’ll just keep buying used CDs and ripping them for my off-line systems. (Of course I’m buying a lot less since they’ve made it harder to hear it before you buy it …)
You like to rip music from CDs, huh? Two words: Tangerine Dream. Make it four: Underwater Sunlight.
Still have a couple old MP3 players that are the size of a pair of AA batteries. them and earbuds for mowing the yard and other chores. The car’s CD player will take MP3 files, so depending on the compression I can stuff hours of Meat Loaf or Billy Joel on each burned CD. (And I still have my old 200 CD changer loaded with classical – but that doesn’t go on the road worth a dang! 😛 )
Not really any different then me taking any stories/notes/ect I have laying around and converting them to mobi so I can read/check them on my older kindle.
Interesting music, thank you. 😉
Of course, with many CDs, you can purchase the physical disc on Amazon, and it unlocks the tracks for streaming on Amazon Music. And its generally cheaper than buying the MP3s.