Collective Soul: Congress officially passed the Music Modernization Act yesterday (9/25). The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill unanimously with its new name, "The Hatch-Goodlatte Music Modernization Act," named for retiring Senator Orrin Hatch (UT), the lead Senate sponsor of the legislation, and U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (VA) who is also retiring from Congress at the end of this term. "After the President signs the legislation into law, songwriters and music publishers begin a two-year process to create a new licensing agency that they will oversee," says NSAI Exec. Dir. Bart Herbison. "Controlling that process is very important and along with tools to achieve higher streaming royalty rates makes the MMA the most important bill for songwriters in history." The Music Licensing Collective (MLC) begins operation January 2, 2021. More info here.