The Music Modernization Act (MMA) has been officially enacted into law as of Thursday, October 11. This bipartisan law helps artists collect royalties in a big way – namely, through updated guidelines on revenue from streaming services.
The law is widely praised in the music industry as being a much-needed update to a far-outdated system
So what exactly does the Music Modernization Act do for artists?
The Music Modernization Act can be broken down into three basic types of copyright law updates.
1.) It clarifies the process with which artists are paid for their streams.
This is the primary purpose of the bill and the biggest update to music copyright law. For years, artists have been complaining about how streaming services pay them for their work. It’s frequently described as a “black box” system, where a percentage is arbitrarily assigned based on the platform.
The MMA encourages transparency and regulation to make sure that artists know exactly what they’ll be paid, and why.
2.) Producers are now being paid as part of a song’s royalties when a song is played over satellite and online radio.
Producers are becoming an important part of an artist’s sound, oftentimes with the same reverence as a featured vocalist (take for example, songs featuring producers DJ Mustard or DJ Khaled). With this legislation, producers can more easily collect royalties from songs in the same way as the leading artist.
This section is also called the Allocation for Music Producers. Notably, it’s the first time producers have been mentioned in music copyright law.
3.) Artists who have released music from before 1972 will now receive royalties from their music.
It’s hard to believe this was even an issue to begin with. However, it’s a sad fact that artists who recorded tracks before 1972 weren’t receiving proper royalties from their music. Now, those artists will get the compensation they deserve from online, radio and streaming services.
This part of the Music Modernization Act is called the Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, & Important Contributions to Society (CLASSICS) Act.
The MMA has been long overdue, and it was unanimously passed in congress with bipartisan support. The music industry has widely praised the enactment of the MMA. Rolling Stone collected statements from several key players in helping the MMA come to fruition.
To sum up the sentiment of the broader music industry, one of the strongest statements collected was that of Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy:
“As we celebrate the harmony and unity that got us here, we applaud the efforts of the thousands of performers, songwriters, and studio professionals who rallied for historic change to ensure all music creators are compensated fairly when their work is used by digital and satellite music services.
We thank the members of Congress who championed this issue throughout the past several years to bring music law into the 21st century.”
Are you excited about this change in the industry? Do you have a friend who’s a recording artist that will benefit from the Music Modernization Act? Let us know in the comments!
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