WASHINGTON, June 27,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On June
26, SoundExchange CEO and President Michael Huppe and country music icon
Randy Travis testified before
Congress on the American Music Fairness Act (H.R. 791), which would
require AM/FM radio stations to pay artists royalties when their
songs are played on the air.
In his testimony at a hearing of the House Judiciary
Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the
Internet, SoundExchange CEO and President Michael Huppe highlighted that the U.S. is the
only democratic nation in the world without a performance right for
artists on AM/FM radio and advocated for Congress to modernize the
nation's copyright law to protect creators.
Huppe said, "Congress must set a standard that creators need
to be compensated wherever and whenever their music is played –
especially when their creations form the backbone of the business
model like they do for AM/FM radio."
Huppe also underscored how the current system harms artists
domestically and overseas: "American musicians lose almost
$300 million of taxable U.S. income
each year because we lack these protections in the U.S. – this is
on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars they are already
missing out on domestically."
Country music star Randy Travis
also provided testimony during the hearing on behalf of creators.
Randy's remarks (delivered by his wife Mary) emphasized the need to
provide fair compensation for artists who form the backbone of the
music industry.
Mary Travis said, "Music is,
was, and will always be his lifeline. But that lifeline has
changed. And we need to acknowledge that. The days of Randy packing
a car and trekking thousands of miles across the country to visit
radio stations and deliver copies of his newest cuts on cassette,
in hopes of having his music heard, are a thing of the
past.
Of all the things we do differently than we did a century
ago, one thing remains the same—the voice is still the mandatory
bridge between the writer and the listener. And it's time to do
right by the ones that create the sound, the melody, the emotion
that keeps the listeners coming back and the advertisers buying
in."
In 2013, Travis was hospitalized with viral cardiomyopathy and
now suffers from aphasia, making it difficult to speak and sing.
Earlier this year, Travis demonstrated how artificial intelligence
can be a powerful tool in support of creators by using an AI model
to release a new song, called "Where That Came From."
Today, Randy and Mary Travis
joined ABC's Good Morning America to share more about his
journey, the importance of the American Music Fairness Act, and how
AI can positively impact the music industry with the right
protections in place.
Full witness testimony as well as a video of the hearing is
available at judiciary.house.gov.
About SoundExchange
SoundExchange is the premier music
tech organization on a mission to power the future of music. It was
independently formed in 2003 to build a fairer, simpler, and more
efficient music industry through technology, data, and advocacy.
The only organization designated by the U.S. government to
administer the Section 114 sound recording license, SoundExchange
collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of
700,000 music creators and growing. Through proprietary music tech
solutions that turn data into accurate revenue, SoundExchange has
paid more than $11 billion in
distributions to date. For more information,
visit soundexchange.com.
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SOURCE SoundExchange