The law on the modernization of music passes, despite the struggles of the music industry – Rolling Stone

The US Senate unanimously passed Tuesday night the Music Modernization Act, despite weeks – or, in some ways, years – of upheavals in the music industry that have made the future of the project very uncertain.

Designed to update copyright laws in the digital age, MMA in its current form will achieve three goals: to ensure that authors and artists receive royalties on songs recorded before 1972; allocate royalties to music producers; and update license and fee rules for streaming services to pay rightholders more rationally. In short, music manufacturers will receive more money.

Music advocacy groups and industry executives are widely encouraging news. Neil Portnow, CEO of the Recording Academy, described the move as a "historic moment," while National Music Publishers Association president David Israelite described it as a "real step forward." Several other groups like RIAA, ASCAP, BMI all issued approval statements.

But the MMA has not been considered with much interest in the whole sector. Earlier this year, the human rights organization SESAC focused on one aspect of the bill and began a fight between songwriters, artists and various music rights groups before to finally give in. Another major industry player, the giant SiriusXM satellite radio, has voiced its disagreement from the outset on a provision forcing the company to pay a new round of royalties on pre-1972 registrations. SiriusXM argued that this provision was unfair, since the terrestrial radio companies did not impose it. On Monday, more than 150 songwriters and artists, including Paul McCartney and John Legend, signed a letter condemning SiriusXM's disapproval and accusing him of selfishly delaying a bill that would benefit the rest of the industry. The company has not yet released a statement on the bill.

"With this bill, we are getting closer to a historic reform of our outdated music laws," said in a statement Orrin Hatch, the US senator most responsible for the complicated bill. The fact that the MMA is a boon to the creators of the music industry is true. However, the long and controversial way to make only three modest changes to copyright rules highlights one of the reasons why more changes have not been made.