|Policy
“In D.C. you’re never going to have 100 percent agreement, but CLASSICS has the support of Pandora and DiMA, the Digital Media Association, which represents online music services,” said Daryl Friedman, who oversees public policy work for the Recording Academy, in an interview before the hearing.
Facebook Inc. is offering major record labels and music publishers hundreds of millions of dollars so the users of its social network can legally include songs in videos they upload, according to people familiar with the matter.
Under the current system, there is no way for a recording artist to be guaranteed payment in all 50 states. Instead, they are captive to a patchwork of inconsistent and ultimately unworkable state laws – denying them millions in royalties for their older songs.
Music data, ownership records, and a horde of licenses remain wildly disorganized. Three weeks ago, Congress proposed a global, centralized music database to ensure that artists get paid on every streaming platform. And, every other platform — digital, physical, and analog — for that matter.
Two House Republicans introduced bills this week aimed at revamping the copyright system for music recordings.
For the last several years, the music business has been unified over one thing: SiriusXM and other digital-radio services must pay royalties for recordings made before 1972.
Steve Bene talks about issues facing Pandora Media’s internet radio service and the music industry, including copyright laws, ticket-price inflation, and what happens when humans compete with bots for concert tickets.