by Mackenzie Fey
It’s been a long time coming, but the day has finally come. On the morning of Thursday, October 11th, 2018, President Donald Trump was joined by numerous music industry veterans to sign the Music Modernization Act (MMA).
This will change how mechanical licensing of songs that are on digital streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music will now be run: entirely by music publishers. It will increase the statutory rates with the help of performance rights organizations such as ASCAP and BMI, meaning more money for our dear music publishers and songwriters, not just the artists and labels.
Under the MMA, recordings before the year 1972 will now be able to receive master recording performance royalties. This means all your favorite hits from artists around that time will now properly be paid the way they should’ve always been.
The MMA also plans to help create one database where anyone can access records of sound recordings and identify them to their proper songwriters and publishers as conspicuously as possible, as well as match them if they haven’t been already.
It doesn’t seem like much, but in this day in age, more people are consuming and streaming music than in the history of mankind. This needed to happen. It’s been years in the making and to have things ultimately moving along is truly rewarding for so many in the industry.
"The Music Modernization Act is now the law of the land, and thousands of songwriters and artists are better for it. The result is a music market better founded on fair competition and fair pay. The enactment of this law demonstrates what music creators and digital services can do when we work together collaboratively to advance a mutually beneficial agenda. It's a great day for music. We hope fans across the country will join with us in celebration and PLAY IT LOUD." - Mitch Glazier, RIAA president: