We’re All For This
Steven Tyler & David Israelite recently expressed their support for songwriters in a guest column for Billboard. They cited the unfair pay music creators receive from digital streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon to name a few) which can be remedied by the Music Modernization Act (MMA). Thus, they’re pushing for Congress to pass it.
“Often money generated from their songs being streamed doesn’t even make it back to them. The bipartisan MMA will fix this by increasing how much songwriters are paid and by creating a system to ensure songwriters receive what they are owed in full from digital music companies.”
They further added:
“The MMA establishes a new central database — run by music publishers and songwriters — which will house all ownership information and, in return for proper payment, allow a service to use any song they’d like. Better yet, the digital services will pay for this entity in its entirety, so it won’t cost songwriters anything — but it will be overseen by creators and copyright owners. This streamlining of payments will make sure songwriters aren’t losing money and if any company continues to infringe or not pay properly, they can be sued by copyright owners just as they can be today.”
In a nutshell, both Tyler and Israelite along with several organizations just want fair rates for songwriters. This isn’t too much to ask since digital streaming services make millions of money in monthly payments from subscribers. We’re hoping the MMA becomes a law soon.