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Spotify formally backs Music Modernization Act
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 12 January 2018
Spotify has formally backed the Music Modernization Act, the proposed legislation in US Congress that seeks to sort out America’s mechanical rights mess.
Licensing the mechanical rights in songs in the US is a nightmare, resulting in songwriters and music publishers going unpaid and streaming services being sued for millions, now billions. The Music Modernization Act would set up a mechanical rights licensing system Stateside like those which already exist in most other countries.
The proposals are backed by many (though not all) in the music community and also the streaming sector’s trade body the Digital Media Association.
After a plethora of music industry trade bodies rallied in Washington earlier this week to formally support the act, the Digital Media Association reaffirmed its support yesterday, while Spotify and Pandora specifically stepped forward to also endorse the proposals, which have been put forward by Congressmen Doug Collins and Hakeem Jeffries
Spotify’s General Counsel and VP Business & Legal Affairs, Horacio Gutierrez, said: “Spotify appreciates Representatives Collins’s and Jeffries’s effort to fix the broken, outdated licensing system that does not serve the needs of music creators or digital music services. The Music Modernization Act increases the transparency and efficiency of licensing music, leading to faster and more accurate royalty payments to songwriters and more music available to consumers”.
Meanwhile Steve Bene, General Counsel at Pandora, added: “Pandora commends the Digital Media Association, the National Music Publishers Association, and the songwriter community for coming together and proposing a workable solution to the music industry’s licensing challenges. The Music Modernization Act is an important step towards improving the digital music services enjoyed by consumers and royalties received by songwriters”.
