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GRAMMYs
News
leveling-the-playing-field-with-the-fair-play-fair-pay-act

Leveling The Playing Field With The Fair Play Fair Pay Act

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Daryl Friedman
Advocacy
Jun 21, 2017 - 8:14 am

Fair play, fair pay. It’s a simple concept.  And we’re finally seeing it applied in a comprehensive bill legislating pay parity for music creators.

Today representatives of The Recording Academy are standing by in New York City as Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), a longtime supporter of fair compensation for music creators and the ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, introduces the aptly named Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2015. This new legislation is the culmination of years of grassroots lobbying by our membership on a slate of individual issues. It also is the result of coordinated effort between The Recording Academy – which first called for a comprehensive, united approach to solving pay inequities for music professionals at GRAMMYs on the Hill in 2014 – and other music stakeholders, including SoundExchange, A2IM, the American Federation of Musicians, SAG-AFTRA, the RIAA, and many others.

As the only national membership organization to represent all music creators, The Recording Academy is particularly gratified by The Fair Play Fair Pay Act because it addresses four previously separate parity issues within one encompassing piece of legislation. First, the bill would establish a process for setting fair-market royalty rates; create a performance right for artists on terrestrial radio; close the pre-1972 loophole to see that veteran performers receive royalties; and codify royalty payments to music producers for the first time. This bill levels the playing field so that creators can get fair pay.

The timing of this bill introduction couldn’t be better. Just two days after Fair Play Fair Pay is unveiled, members of The Recording Academy from across the country will come together in Washington this Wednesday, April 15, for the 2015 GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards, where Congressman Nadler will be saluted for his dedication to championing rights for music creators alongside another intellectual property rights crusader on Capitol Hill, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and an artist who has also championed creators’ rights, Alicia Keys. And the day after that, 200 GRAMMY advocates from our 12 Chapters will converge on Capitol Hill in more than 70 meetings to ask lawmakers to support the Fair Play Fair Pay Act and other issues of importance to music professionals.

The Fair Play Fair Pay Act represents a welcome approach to solving the disparate copyright and royalty dilemmas that have unfairly impacted music creators. And it is thanks to the dedication of our 24,000-strong membership, and the power of The Recording Academy’s grassroots advocacy efforts, that real progress toward fair pay for all music creators will be made. 

GRAMMYs
News
letting-the-air-out-of-new-coalitions

Letting the Air Out of New Coalitions

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Todd Dupler
Advocacy
Jun 21, 2017 - 8:14 am

Last month, this blog recounted how hundreds of music creators and Recording Academy members descended on the nation’s capital for GRAMMYs on the Hill Advocacy Day.  Hundreds more reached out to Members of Congress in their home districts last year for the inaugural GRAMMYs in My District.  And so far this year, thousands of music creators and music fans have sent emails to Congress and flooded social media through the Academy’s online tools and through our partners at the musicFIRST Coalition.

Real people, real advocacy.

Whether it’s in Washington, D.C., in local congressional districts, or online, the message is both clear and simple: all music creators deserve fair compensation whenever and wherever their work is used.  It’s not surprising that thousands of voices have risen up for basic fairness.  It’s also not surprising that those who have an interest in keeping the status quo – big corporate broadcasters and Internet giants – are unable to muster the same kind of authentic, grassroots support for their cause.  What is surprising is the lengths they’ve gone to convince us otherwise.

The newly formed Mic Coalition purports to be for a “rational, sustainable and transparent” music industry in service to the needs and wants of consumers.  In reality, it’s a manufactured interest group led by a who’s who of corporate interests – including the National Association of Broadcasters, iHeartMedia, Google, Amazon, and Pandora – that are all committed to resisting the call for fair music royalties for creators.  Under the guise of keeping music “affordable” and “accessible,” the coalition’s mission is fear-mongering, warning that modernizing music licensing laws to ensure fairness will somehow destroy their billion-dollar businesses.  The Mic Coalition has already been rightly dismissed as the “McCoalition” for its corporate underpinnings. 

The new Re:Create Coalition requires a little more effort to look behind the curtain.  On its website, the coalition states principles that sound good.  After paying lip service to creativity, the coalition espouses the principles of balance, freedom and clarity in copyright law.  But for this coalition, “balance” really means to weaken copyright law; “freedom” is about securing the freedom to use someone else’s work; and “clarity” only seeks clear limits on the rights of creators.  The Re:Create Coalition includes the Consumer Electronic Association, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Public Knowledge, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, each an organization that counts tech giant Google as either a member or a supporter.

During World War II, a secret unit of the U.S. Army was deployed in Europe to fool the enemy about troop strength and movements.  The “Ghost Army” used inflatable tanks, special sound effects, fake radio communications, and more to convince the Germans that massive infantry and artillery units existed where there were none.  The effort was a rousing success and a testament to American ingenuity and creativity.  Perhaps inspired by history, Big Radio and Big Tech think they can fool us with their own fabricated ghost armies. 

The efforts of The Recording Academy’s 24,000-strong membership and other like-minded allies have stirred up some mighty big guns, the best that money can buy.  But like the rubber tanks that sat on the front lines in Europe 70 years ago, those guns aren’t real; they’re filled with hot air.  These fake coalitions can’t match the real voices of music creators and music fans that are committed to basic fairness.

Make sure your voice is heard too.  Take a moment right now to ask Congress to update our music laws to provide fairness for creators: grmypro.co/updatemusiclaw

 

GRAMMYs

Photo: Andras Polonyi / EyeEm

News
Recording Academy Champions The HITS Act recording-academy-champions-hits-act-which-supports-independent-music-makers%E2%80%99-recovery

Recording Academy Champions The HITS Act, Which Supports Independent Music Makers’ Recovery

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The Help Independent Tracks Succeed Act lets creators fully expense production costs for new music up-front to stimulate reopening of the music economy
Advocacy
Jul 31, 2020 - 7:00 am

Today, the Recording Academy joined Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) to announce the Help Independent Tracks Succeed (HITS) Act, which allows an individual to fully expense for tax purposes the cost of new studio recordings on their taxes, up to $150,000, within the same year of production.

Music creators are among the American workers hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Tours are cancelled, venues, bars, and restaurants are shuttered, and recording studios remain closed. As independent artists and producers look for a new path forward, the HITS Act creates a foothold for recovery. Without it, the costs of making new music may be prohibitive to creators following months of lost income.

"The Recording Academy is proud to have worked alongside Reps. Sánchez and Estes to develop the key provisions in the HITS Act," said Harvey Mason jr., Chair and Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy. "The HITS Act will make a meaningful impact and help ease the financial burden for thousands of independent creators getting back on track, eager to share their creativity with the world. It will inspire new music and create opportunities for many of the vulnerable professionals in our community to persevere during these uncertain times."

Currently, individual recording artists and record producers are required to amortize production expenses for tax purposes over the economic life of a sound recording, typically 3-4 years. The HITS Act allows artists and producers to choose to deduct 100 percent of their production expenses for records created in the United States in the year such expenses are incurred, in the same manner that qualified film and television production expenses are allowed to be expensed. Expenses can include studio equipment, studio rental fees, staff costs, electricity, studio musicians, and much more.

"We are living through tough times and nothing helps you escape like turning on your favorite album," said Rep. Sánchez. "Similar to many families and workers across the country, the coronavirus has also had an enormous impact on music makers. Gigs have been canceled, studios shuttered, and creative writing sessions postponed. I'm proud to introduce the HITS Act with Rep. Estes. Our bill will provide small, independent creators with a bit of help getting back to work, making the music we turn to in good times and bad."

"Music is a powerful language that connects people of varying generations, backgrounds and experiences," said Rep. Estes. "The men and women who make music — either through writing, singing, playing or producing — deserve to have the same tax benefits as artists in the film, television and live theater industries. The HITS Act is sound legislation that supports our creative communities throughout the United States and encourages music makers of all sizes and notoriety."

Many music creators watched their incomes disappear as the pandemic ushered in a new normal of closures and cancellations. The median income for a professional musician is less than $25,000 a year, and independent music professionals will be among the last to return to work as the nation gradually reopens. As the only organization representing all music creators, the Recording Academy will continue to support government assistance that will help music creators navigate their way through this unprecedented time and subsequent recovery period.

Academy Endorses New Legislation To Support Creators, Venues & Small Music Businesses

Entertainment Law Initiative 2020 Event

22nd Annual Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Event & Scholarship Presentation | GRAMMY Week 2020

Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

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GRAMMY Week 2020: ELI Event Embraces Change grammy-week-2020-entertainment-law-initiative-event-celebrates-change-makers-and

GRAMMY Week 2020: Entertainment Law Initiative Event Celebrates Change-Makers And Discusses Today's Most Pressing Issues

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As the music industry continues to evolve, the Recording Academy recognizes those at the vanguard of entertainment law and the leaders pushing the profession forward
John Ochoa
Advocacy
Jan 31, 2020 - 7:47 am

They say change is the only constant in life. That's a mantra by which the music industry lives. And when it comes to entertainment law, change is what drives the business forward. 

Change is the theme that defined the 22nd Annual Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Event & Scholarship Presentation, the most prominent gathering for entertainment attorneys and other music business professionals during GRAMMY Week. Every year, the ELI event unites the music business community and addresses some of the most compelling issues facing the music industry today. The 2020 ELI event—held last week (Friday, Jan. 24) as an official GRAMMY Week event at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.—honored an industry luminary initiating change today while also recognizing some future leaders in law. 

For over two decades, ELI has addressed the shifting landscape of entertainment law head on, providing a forum for legal thought leaders and honoring its own practitioners who are ensuring the industry adapts to the ever-changing music and entertainment industry. 

It's no wonder, then, that this year's ELI Service Award honored Jeff Harleston, a music industry veteran who has faced virtually every sea change to directly challenge the entertainment law field. 

"Over the last 25 years or so, no industry has experienced more change than the music industry," Sir Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said in his opening remarks at the gathering. "But throughout this period of turmoil and transformation, there've been two constants. First, amazing artists making great music. And secondly, as if you didn't know by now, Jeff Harleston's extraordinary sound judgment."

Harleston, who currently serves as the general counsel and executive vice president of business and legal affairs at Universal Music Group, has been a champion for artists and creators throughout his decades-long career. Across his days as the head of the business and legal affairs department at MCA Records in the late '90s to his time as general manager of Geffen Records, Harleston has worked with iconic artists like Mary J. Blige, Nelly Furtado and Snoop Dogg, among many others. 

"There's no bigger friend to artists than Jeff," three-time GRAMMY winner Common said of Harleston in a personalized tribute video. "So you can call Jeff a general counsel or a board member or a role model. They all fit. But I'll continue to call him a friend. He's a true advocate for artists. And I couldn't be prouder of the recognition he's receiving today."

ELI 2020 - Jeff Harleston - Sir Lucian Grainge

Making his way to the stage, the crowd offering a well-deserved standing ovation, Harleston addressed the room with pride and jubilation in his voice and optimism in his sight. 

"This is to the lawyers in the room," he said. "At times, we know being a lawyer in the music business can be an entirely thankless task, but we love it because we love music… But most importantly, we have learned to work together. And what we've been able to do when we work together is move it forward really well. We move things forward legislatively, we've empowered new services that are finding ways to bring our music and the artists' music to places they've never been before. And it's all because we've allowed ourselves to respect each other and trust each other. I really am happy to see that happen and I really hope that we can continue that spirit." 

As he remembered his extensive career and all that he and his colleagues have together accomplished for the industry and the wider artist community, he took a moment to acknowledge the road ahead for entertainment law and the challenges to come. 

"As I reflect on my almost-27 years in this business," he said, "there's one thing that's clear about the music business: the constant is change. Change happens all the time... But what we have to do and what we've learned to do... we've learned to deal with the change. And change is hard. It can be abrupt. It can be unexpected. It can be painful. But it's important, and it has to happen.

"We are in the midst of a change as we speak. But I know that we are strong and resilient, and we will get through it. And when we come out the other side, we will be better, we'll be stronger and the world will be great. In the words of Bob Dylan, 'The times, they are a-changin’."

Fittingly, Dylan's eternal lyrics and Harleston's remarks nod to the ever-evolving music industry and the modern issues it faces, many of which were addressed by the entrants of the 2020 ELI Writing Competition. 

As one of its core elements, ELI has supported promising law students and has fostered future careers in entertainment law, having provided more than 800 students with scholarships to date. The event's popular yearly student writing competition and scholarship presentation acknowledge the outstanding law students who are seeking to push entertainment law into the future.

This year's writing competition entrants, who each addressed a compelling legal issue confronting the music industry and proposed a solution in their essays, tackled some of today's most timely and pressing matters in the field.

Christopher Chiang, a student at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, won the writing competition with an essay proposing a sliding scale framework for copyright protection in music. Chiang was presented his award, which came along with a $10,000 scholarship and tickets to various GRAMMY Week events, onstage by Ken Abdo, a partner at Fox Rothschild who has been involved with the ELI Writing Competition since its beginnings. Runner-ups included John Gilbertson, a student at Drake University School of Law in Des Moines, Iowa, and Graham Fenton from UCLA Law. 

ELI 2020 - Christopher Chiang - Ken Abdo

Perhaps the most urgent issue and forthcoming change to affect the music industry today comes via California Assembly Bill 5, more commonly known as AB5. The newly passed state statute aims to protect workers in the "gig economy," namely Uber drivers. However, its impact on the music industry could prove detrimental. (Music creators, particularly those who work as independent contracts, such as studio musicians or session/backing players, would potentially need to be recognized as employees and/or employers in order to secure work, which in turn entails a more complicated hiring process and higher fees for one-time gigs and short-term projects and performances.) Having gone into effect at the beginning of 2020, AB5 today stands as one of the most timely and important issues for music creators' rights in 2020.

In a panel that followed remarks by ELI Executive Committee Chair Michael Kushner, who is executive vice president, business & legal affairs and general counsel at Atlantic Records, some of the brightest and most active voices in the battle over AB5 spoke of the well-intended law and its potentially damaging effect on the music industry.

"AB5 is the definition of the 'law of unintended consequences,'" said Jordan Bromley, a partner at Manatt Entertainment Transactions & Finance. "It was meant to hit a certain sector of California industry, and it [was] painted with such a wide brush that everyone is affected, unless there's a specific exemption in the bill. I would say the one way to look at it is if somebody is providing you or your company or your artists or your producer or your songwriter a service that is 'core to the business,' they are now your employee."

Since its passing, the music biz and artist community have largely banded together to address AB5, with many from both sides of the industry launching online petitions and meeting with California lawmakers directly in an attempt to secure exemption from the law on behalf of the wider music industry. 

Ari Herstand, an independent musician, author and music industry blogger, has been at the forefront of the AB5 debate since it went into law. He's since gathered 50,000 petitions from California music professionals who are against the law. 

"We're 20-something days into this thing right now, and I'm literally gathering stories every single day from musicians who are losing work," he said. "I've hundreds of documented cases of musicians in California that are losing work."

Daryl Friedman, Ari Herstand, Morgan Kibby and Jordan Bromley at 2020 Entertainment Law Initiative event

But much like any other major change to impact the business, the music industry is already making headway into addressing and alleviating the issues of AB5.

Both Bromley and Herstand agree education is a key component in pushing things forward.

"The unions ran the bill," Bromley said. "The unions will run the next bill, most likely. So we need the unions on board. They're all conceptually there... It's frankly a lot of education on our business because it's weird and wacky and nuanced. And even some of the unions that exist in our business don't really understand how it's evolved in the last 10 years. So it's just a lot of patience and education, but everyone's at the table and everyone is focused on a solution."

"There needs to be education," Herstand added. "Right now, because of all of the hysteria around this—that's why so many musicians are literally losing work every day. So as soon as this—hopefully it's an urgency bill—passes, everybody needs to write about it. Every lawyer needs to know this to be able to educate. So I encourage everybody here to follow this process along and, once this thing gets passed, to educate your clients on what is actually happening and that we have found a fix, hopefully."

Panel moderator Daryl Friedman, Chief Industry, Government and Member Relations Officer for the Recording Academy, concluded the chat on a high note of optimism regarding the road ahead with AB5.

"It's going to be a lot of hard work by a lot of people," he said. "Hopefully a year from now, we will realize that this has been fixed. But I think there's also another lesson that is more enduring: the lesson of when creators get involved [and] when creators speak. They make the difference here. When creators speak, policymakers listen."

It's the exact kind of dialogue that has come to define the ethos and vision of ELI throughout the decades: When change comes a-knockin', we will be there to adapt, listen, learn and educate. 

The Entertainment Law Initiative maintains its support for the music industry as a whole, from its creators to its executives to its attorneys, and will continue to foster the next generation of change-makers within the music business and legal community for decades to come.

What's Ahead In 2020 For Music Creators' Rights?

GRAMMYs

Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images

News
Why Working Musicians Win With Performance Right how-working-musicians-will-win-when-congress-passes-radio-performance-right

How Working Musicians Will Win When Congress Passes Radio Performance Right

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In honor of Labor Day, take a look at how music unions and the musicians who belong to them would benefit from finally getting the AM/FM performance right they deserve
Nate Hertweck
Advocacy
Aug 30, 2019 - 2:35 pm

"While radio rocks out and cashes in over Labor Day, the performers you hear get paid nothing. There's a better way…" –Conversations In Advoacay #64

Labor Day comes around each year to remind us of the precious power and intrinsic value of hard work in our culture. For working music makers, compensation for their hard work can be tricky to track down, as music permeates into so many spaces in our lives. But in the realm of broadcast radio, artists and producers still don't get paid for the performance of their music, songs they worked hard to create.

Imagine that: AM/FM radio stations can use any song ever recorded without paying the artists, performers or producers a dime. That's a lot of hard work gone unrecognized.

Now imagine this: if royalties were paid for music played on terrestrial radio, it would not only benefit the featured artist on your favorite track, but also the studio musicians and backing vocalists who performed on the track too. That’s because a portion of the royalties would flow through the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund. The fund then distributes royalties to entitled singers and musicians, and while only union members are eligible to receive foreign royalties, all U.S. royalties are paid out without regard to membership. Clearly, this would put money in the pockets of all the music makers you hear over the airwaves.

This shouldn't be complicated – music creators should be compensated for their work, regardless of where it's played. https://t.co/vZwzpMy1kk

— musicFIRST (@musicFIRST) August 28, 2019

This is why AFM and SAG-AFTRA, along with the Recording Academy, are founding members of musicFIRST, which works to ensure music creators get fair pay for their work, on AM/FM and wherever and however it is played. Together we all fight to ensure music creators receive fair pay, regardless of what format utilizes their music.

So as you fire up the grill on Labor Day and dial in your favorite station, consider the hard work put in by the artists and producers you hear and contact your Members of Congress to urge them to finally establish a long overdue performance right so we can keep the music playing.

Let Your Representatives Know You Stand In Support Of Music Creators' Rights

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.