New Congress Webinar

New Congress Webinar

 

Photo: Recording Academy Advocacy

 
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Legislators, Creators Join Recording Academy's Webinar On Music And The New Congress

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On Feb. 1, the Recording Academy hosted a webinar to stress the importance of music advocacy, and demonstrate the viability of creator-friendly legislation in the new legislation session
Advocacy
Feb 4, 2021 - 7:49 am

On January 3rd, the 117th Congress officially started with the swearing-in of lawmakers. While COVID-19 relief package passed at the end of last year was a step in the right direction, the new Congress must continue to pass creator-friendly legislation in the immediate future, including additional financial relief for struggling creators and the HITS Act.

To help music advocates understand the recent power shift in Washington, D.C., the Recording Academy hosted the "New Congress Webinar" on Monday (Feb. 1). This webinar featured current and former members of Congress, along with Academy member advocates, to discuss how the new Congress will impact the creative workforce, and how advocates can help shape the legislative branch's agenda.

The webinar's first panel was moderated by Daryl Friedman, the Academy's Chief Advocacy Officer, and featured Representatives Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas). Representing many members of the creative workforce, Congresswoman Sánchez championed the Help Independent Tracks Succeed (HITS) Act in the previous Congress, and shared the importance of actively contacting your elected leaders. When discussing the past year's numerous challenges, Congressman McCaul, another champion for music-friendly legislation, spoke to the universally healing nature of music, arguing that, "Music transcends politics…we are looking to the musician and creator to help us get through this."  

Following the first panel, Kelley Purcell, the Academy's Vice President of Membership & Industry Relations, lead a discussion with Academy members on the power of challenging members of Congress to support music-friendly policies. Tracy Hamlin, a Recording Academy National Trustee for the Washington, D.C. Chapter, described the importance of advocacy, "It was very important to me to take advantage of the opportunity to be a voice at the table, share my story with my elected leaders, and to really help to humanize the many issues we face as creators today." Andrew Joslyn, an Academy National Trustee for the Pacific Northwest Chapter, and Alex Ritchie, a member of the Los Angeles Chapter and an artist, producer, and songwriter, also shared their experiences of being an advocate on behalf of the creative workforce. 

The final conversation was held between Diane Blagman, a Washington, D.C. Chapter Governor and two former members of Congress, J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and Albert Wynn (D-Md.). During the panel, Forbes stressed the importance of sharing "what the pundits don't tell you" about the interworking of the legislative process, while Wynn, a jazz enthusiast, outlined the goals of the Biden Administration and Democratic Majorities in both the House and Senate. 

The intended takeaway from the webinar was to stress the importance of music advocacy, and demonstrate the viability of creator-friendly legislation in the new legislation session. If you have yet to view, the full webinar is available on the Academy's Facebook page. 

Bipartisan Package Brings New COVID Relief And More

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U.S. Capitol

 

Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

 
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Billboard: How The Recording Academy And Its Allies Scored Big Wins In COVID Relief Package

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Billboard’s recent profile told the story of how Recording Academy members and the greater music community helped Congress to shape the latest COVID relief package
Advocacy
Jan 29, 2021 - 8:30 am

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically impacted the livelihoods of many Recording Academy members. Since March, the creative community has been left without access to traditional income and tasked with searching for alternative sources of support, including engaging their fan bases differently, temporarily changing professions, and applying for grants from nonprofits, such as the Academy’s MusiCares. In addition to these options, federal, state, and local governments have appropriated resources to financially support displaced and unemployed workers.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Recording Academy has raised awareness of the music community’s struggles and lobbied for the inclusion of necessary financial assistance in legislative relief packages, including the landmark CARES Act. While the $2 trillion bill resulted in effective short-term relief at the beginning of the pandemic, many of the key provisions expired, or were set to sunset, by the end of the calendar year, setting up a potential nightmare scenario were struggling creators would be left without vital financial assistance.

To recap how the Academy and our members successfully intervened to stop these programs from expiring, Billboard recently published an in-depth analysis on the Academy’s advocacy in action, which resulted in Congress including additional creator-friendly provisions in the latest COVID-19 relief package. The article compartmentalized the Academy’s efforts into “four strategic pillars”: in-house lobbying, grassroots mobilization, celebrity influence, and coalition-building.

The Academy’s in-house advocacy team spent hundreds of hours educating policy makers about the needs of struggling music creators and had a hand in shaping the final COVID relief package. While normal lobbying typically occurs in-person, the Advocacy team quickly adjusted their strategy to comply with both the Academy’s and Capitol Hill’s COVID-19 restrictions. Daryl Friedman, the Academy’s Chief Advocacy Officer, told Billboard that, "[It's] really kind of an unusual way to lobby because we’re used to being in people’s offices and going to receptions with the members of Congress and holding fundraisers and doing all sorts of things that couldn’t be done in a pandemic." While the pandemic presents a unique challenge of accessing key legislators, Friedman told Billboard that the virtual model allows for more “effective” lobbying since time is not lost commuting to Capitol Hill.

Next, the Academy enlisted its best advocates to help shape the latest COVID package: our membership. Standing 20,000+ strong, Recording Academy members continuously prove to be their own best advocate due to their ability to provide first-hand accounts of the experiences navigating the creative workforce. P.J. Morton, a GRAMMY winning singer/songwriter and Recording Academy Trustee, met with Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) during the virtual District Advocate day in August. Morton described his experience of meeting with the Congressional leader to Billboard. “To hear personally from someone that, hey man, this thing you love so much is really suffering, and the people that make it that you love are suffering, and if we don’t get some help you may not have access to that stuff that you love so much…it’s hard to just overlook that.”

The third strategic pillar used by the Academy is to host meetings between policymakers and musicians with high name recognition. Friedman argued that, “[Celebrities] can get attention in a way that sometimes even we can’t.” These notable musicians helped the Academy land meetings with Congressional leadership, a difficult task during the lengthy COVID negotiations.

Finally, the Recording Academy formed coalitions with other members of the music ecosystem to send a united call regarding the importance of music-friendly legislation. Keith Kupferschmid, President and CEO of the Copyright Alliance, also spoke with Billboard about the importance of coalition-building. "This crisis has brought us together in a way that I haven’t seen before…One bright spot of this very terrible pandemic is that it’s brought all of us together because we know this is about survival, and we only survive if we can all band together."

Without these four strategic pillars, the latest COVID relief package was at risk of leaving music creators behind. The Academy’s strategy proved to be effective in delivering much needed aid, but the team will continue the drum beat for creator-friendly legislation in the near future. As the Biden Administration and Congress begin outlining the next COVID relief package, the Academy plans to activate these strategic pillars to again give a voice to the needs of struggling creators, including a call to pass the HITS Act, strengthen unemployment insurance to better serve gig workers and mixed earners, and expand business grants, among others. On behalf of the Academy, thank you to our members who helped secure these much needed relief programs for the music community!

Read the full article in Billboard. 

Bipartisan Package Brings New COVID Relief And More

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GRAMMY Advocacy

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Mechanical Licensing Collective Officially Launches

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On Jan. 1, 2021, the MLC began administering the new blanket mechanical licenses for streaming and download services, a welcomed development for music creators
Advocacy
Jan 7, 2021 - 10:18 am

The Mechanical Licensing Collective has officially started to collect mechanical royalties! Established as part of the landmark Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) was designed with songwriters, composers, publishers, and lyricists in mind, many of whom previously faced issues collecting their entitled mechanical royalty payments from digital streaming services. 

On January 1, 2021, the MLC started to remedy these issues by officially administering new blanket mechanical licenses for streaming and download services. Other royalties are not affected and will continue to be distributed in the same manner—such as through an existing PRO for a songwriter's performance royalties. Self-administered and independent songwriters who register their works through the Collective's portal can expect to receive their first payment later this spring. For songwriters or composers signed with a publisher or working with a rights administrator, be sure to check with them to ensure that all of your works are properly registered with the MLC.

This collection service will continue to regularly distribute these royalties at no cost to creators. The MLC's $62 million budget is funded by the streaming services, as required by the MMA. And the MLC will also launch a comprehensive public musical works database to ensure transparency and accuracy.

While the Collective has only recently started to collect mechanical royalties from these services, the launch of this impactful tool is the result of years of advocacy, negotiations, and preparation. The Recording Academy played an instrumental role in drafting the MMA and pushed policymakers to remedy this chronic issue on behalf of songwriters.

Recently, the Recording Academy hosted a webinar to explain how the service will help creators and address questions about eligibility and registration. The panel was moderated by the Recording Academy's Chief Advocacy Officer Daryl Friedman and featured Recording Academy Chair and Interim President/CEO Harvey Mason jr., MLC CEO Kris Ahrend, and songwriter and GRAMMY nominee Tayla Parx.

Visit the MLC's website to learn more about this game-changing tool.

5 Key Quotes From The Mechanical Licensing Collective Webinar

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Lawmakers and the Academy celebrate together
Photo: Recording Academy

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Successful Year for GRAMMY Advocacy Culminates at Celebration in New DC HQ

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A bipartisan bash brought together music's creators and top lawmakers at our new Advocacy offices in the nation's capital
Philip Merrill
Advocacy
Dec 19, 2018 - 4:09 pm

The Recording Academy's hard work on Capitol Hill has paid off in 2018 with real progress, and the time to celebrate has come! On Dec. 12, the GRAMMY-nominated songwriter, Julia Michaels, joined the GRAMMY Advocacy staff, lawmakers, Congressional staff and stakeholder groups—over 200 guests in total—for a holiday open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Recording Academy's new offices in downtown Washington, D.C. The new space is intended to be a home for Academy members visiting the nation’s capital, and help better unite the policy community—in bipartisan fashion—with the music creator community.

Julia Michaels at the GRAMMY Advocacy open house.

“I want to thank the Recording Academy for being here in DC to represent those of us who make music” --GRAMMY nominee Julia Michaels at the GRAMMY Advocacy open house.

This special unity was on display throughout last week’s celebration, including during the official ribbon cutting ceremony that brought together musicians like Michaels and Academy Trustee and singer/songwriter Tracy Hamlin with lawmakers Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Hoyer, who was recently elected Majority Leader for the 116th Congress, addressed the crowd praising the Academy for its efforts and successes in Washington.

Earlier in the festivities, Michaels had a bipartisan visit with Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Norma Torres (D-Calif.). McCarthy will be the top Republican in the House next Congress and continue to serve alongside the aforementioned Hoyer as co-chairs of the Recording Arts and Sciences Congressional Caucus. Their bipartisan partnership on behalf of music led to 2018's historic victory when the Music Modernization Act was signed into law after having unanimously passed Congress.

Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), and Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) also joined in to celebrate with us. D.C.-based producer, engineer and songwriter—and recent GRAMMY nominee—Matt Squire entertained the crowd on Pro Tools, demonstrating how a song is brought to life as a recording, from start to finish. Michaels also addressed the importance of what happens after that, bringing the creative process full circle in context for the crowd.

The year of progress we've had and the passage of the Music Modernization Act are so important because the professionals who create the music we all love — the music that unites us — have to make a living to pour their time and talent into their craft successfully. Cheers and more to come in 2019—with a new home in D.C.!

GRAMMY Advocacy In Action: The Music Modernization Act & Beyond

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Photo: John Fedele/Getty Images

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Biden Administration Announces Creator-Friendly Changes To The Paycheck Protection Program

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The Biden Administration announced welcomed changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, increasing aid to music creators
Advocacy
Feb 24, 2021 - 11:45 am

The Biden Administration and Small Business Administration (SBA) announced new changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) on Monday, which will result in increased access to essential financial relief for the creative workforce.  Formed as part of the CARES Act, the PPP has enjoyed tremendous bipartisan support due to the program’s ability to quickly deliver relief to qualified small businesses, including sole proprietors and independent contractors. The PPP administers favorable loans to eligible borrowers through participating financial institutions, and many of the loans convert to grants if they are primarily used to fund payroll expenses.

While the relief program is appreciated and utilized by the music community, many struggling creatives were originally left with either limited or no access to the available loans administered by the SBA. But starting today, the SBA attempts to correct these inequities and other longstanding programmatic flaws by implementing new guidance.

Many creators will be directly impacted by the SBA’s updated funding formula for sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals. Previously, the PPP loan was calculated by multiplying an applicant’s payroll expense by 2.5, resulting in a much lower loan for sole-proprietors compared with larger businesses. Under the updated guidance, the SBA will calculate the loan amount for these types of workers by using gross income instead of net profits, resulting in larger payments for many members of the music ecosystem. The Recording Academy has consistently advocated for this change since last March, which will help make PPP loans more responsive to the needs of self-employed individuals.

From the program’s inception, many minority-owned businesses and businesses located in underserved communities faced difficulty accessing loans due to a lack of a formal pre-existing relationship with large financial institutions. To correct that program, the SBA has earmarked $1 billion in funds for low- and moderate-income areas. While this is a step in the right direction, the Biden Administration and the SBA must continue to increase outreach and assistance to these underserved communities and minority-owned institutions.

The SBA will also begin a 14-day exclusive application window beginning today, February 24, for businesses with 20 employees or less. Previously, these businesses struggled to secure PPP funds due to the overcrowded lending portal. Understanding that many business in the music ecosystem are extremely small operations, the Academy has long advocated for the SBA to prioritize the delivery of financial relief to the smallest of businesses, many of whom are on the verge of collapse due to the pandemic’s enduring impact.

Other changes in guidance include the elimination of borrowing restrictions for business owners with non-fraud felony convictions, the removal of the disqualifying federal student loan debt delinquency factors, and the expansion of the program to qualify all lawful U.S. residents.

While the 14-day exclusive application window starts today, the remainder of the changes in guidance will take effect during the first week of March. Learn more about the application process on the SBA’s website. 

While many of these promising changes will positively impact the entire music ecosystem, Congress must continue to prioritize music creators in any future COVID-19 relief package. President Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” addresses the many complex challenges facing creators by extending unemployment assistance, appropriating funds to help small businesses survive, and investing in the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). It is time for Congress to stand with music creators by supporting the American Rescue Plan. 

Take Action: Urge Congress To Pass The American Rescue Plan