Writing The Wronged: Today (10/11) President Trump signed into law the Music Modernization Act (CAT 9/26), an event attended by artists including Craig Morgan, John Rich and Kid Rock. The MMA bill was created to give music creators fairer compensation for their works in the digital streaming world. "We have worked on elements of this legislation for 15 years," says NSAI President Steve Bogard. "With the passage of this law, every professional songwriter in America, including myself, who has suffered devastating economic losses in the era of digital music delivery, can now breathe a sigh of relief and be optimistic about the future of our profession." 

Adds NSAI Exec. Dir. Bart Herbison, "NSAI and other songwriter organizations will immediately select songwriter board and committee members for the new Music Licensing Collective (MLC) that commences operation on January 1, 2021.  We have two years to build the first-ever songwriter, music publisher run mechanical licensing collective. This will be the first collection agency that pays songwriters 100 cents from every royalty dollar since the digital streaming companies will pay operational costs of the MLC."

"NAB is grateful for President Trump's signature on the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, thus culminating a years-long process to find consensus solutions to music licensing issues," says NAB Pres./CEO Gordon Smith. "This important legislation will benefit songwriters, legacy recording artists, producers, digital streaming services, and music listeners. We appreciate the bipartisan process that resulted in passage of this landmark legislation." 

Read Bogard's, Herbison's and Smith's full quotes plus statements from NMPA's David Israelite, ASCAP's Elizabeth Matthews and Paul Williams, BMI's Mike O'Neill, SESAC's John Josephson and Recording Academy's Neil Portnow here.