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Publication

DiMA President & CEO: Critics of ASCAP and BMI Consent Decrees Are Missing the Point

"The decrees are not broken," writes Garrett Levin, president and CEO of digital services trade group DiMA.

Billboard
Garrett Levin

The U.S. Department of Justice recently convened a series of workshops to review “competition in licensing in public performance rights.” For a government agency considering seismic changes to music licensing laws, it was well-intentioned and an appropriate exercise. Regrettably, however, the conversation lacked the critical perspective of numerous voices, including the music streaming services and…

Publication

Graham Warns DOJ Not To ‘Disrupt’ Music Market With ASCAP-BMI Changes

Inside Radio
Inside Radio

The new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is sending a clear signal to the Dept. of Justice not to throw the music marketplace into chaos with proposed changes to the consent decrees governing ASCAP and BMI. Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, who heads the Antitrust Division, has backed a “smooth transition” toward a “market-based”…

Publication

The DOJ’s entertainment industry blitz

American Thinker
Alex Keeney

This July, no one in Hollywood was surprised to see his office lobby littered with a prescient edition of The Hollywood Reporter, whose cover story read, “Welcome to Hollywood’s Age of Anxiety.”

Op-Ed

DOJ Must Preserve Consent Decrees to Protect Music Consumer Choice

Morning Consult
John Bodnovich (American Beverage Licensees), Shannon Meade (National Restaurant Association) & Tara Good (WineAmerica)

When a customer walks into a bar, restaurant, hotel, brewery or winery, they’re focused on enjoying the experience, not the intricacies of music licensing. Instead, hundreds of thousands of public hospitality venues across the nation are responsible for purchasing a music license from performing rights organizations, like ASCAP and BMI, through a confusing, opaque and…

Publication

Brewery ensures local songwriters get royalties for their original music

Hometown Life
Sharon Dargay

“What I say is we’re the originator of live music here in South Lyon,” Robinson said. “We pay the licenses. We are trying to set a standard here. No bad blood or ill will to anybody else, but you know what? We’re paying. I’m trying to do the right thing. We pay more in music…

Publication

Music Industry Reform Shows Congress Can Still Do Its Job

Real Clear Policy
Christian Thrailkill

On October 11, songwriters across America scored a huge win as President Trump signed the Music Modernization Act into law. This bill passed the House and Senate unanimously, underscoring the severe need for this law to correct imbalances afflicting the music industry in the streaming age. The MMA will provide individual songwriters protection from the predatory practices…

Publication

The Trump Administration Shouldn’t Help Big Music Rob Songwriters

Red State
Seton Motley

Whenever the issue of songwriting royalties arises, the most common reaction is “Wait a second – the federal government sets music royalty rates?”

Publication

The Consent Decrees are at it Again!

R Street
Sasha Moss

For the first time in nearly three years, music licensing has become a hot topic in Washington, D.C. Last time I wrote extensively on the subject was in “Transparency in Music Licensing and the Statutory Remedy Problem,” a paper responding to the controversy surrounding two District Court consent decrees involving Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and the American…

Publication

The 25-year reign of CDs is over as low-cost digital music takes over and makes us all ‘music millionaires’

AEI
Mark J. Perry

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently released recorded music sales revenue figures for 2016 and some of the historical music sales data from the RIAA are displayed in the two charts above (press release here). Here are some observations.

Publication

Consent Decrees and the Music Industry: An Antitrust and Copyright Explainer

DisCo
Matthew Lane

On May 18, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) is expected to file its opening brief in an appeal of a district court decision rejecting its interpretation of a consent decree entered into in 1941 (and amended since). The outcome of this appeal could have major and long-lasting repercussions for Internet radio and music streaming.