SoundExchange Commends Reps. Nadler and Blackburn on Introduction of H.R. 1733, the Fair Play Fair Pay Act


This past Monday, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced the introduction of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2015, a bill that is the most significant and comprehensive pro-artist legislation in copyright reform to come before Congress. SoundExchange applauds this long overdue legislation that, if passed, would ensure a fairer and more efficient music royalty payment system.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Huppe, joined Reps. Nadler and Blackburn for a press conference announcing this legislation in New York this past Monday, along with a broad coalition of artists from all genres and eras of music, members of SAG-AFTRA, AFM, the rest of the musicFIRST coalition and many others.

“We are pleased that Reps. Nadler and Blackburn have introduced legislation to address many of the issues that prevent music creators from receiving fair pay for their work, including closing the radio loophole so that U.S. performers are paid when their sound recordings are broadcast on FM radio,” said Huppe.

SoundExchange continues to work for fairness for all artists and this important piece of legislation would answer some of the most glaring inequities facing music creators today.

It would:

  1. require AM/FM radio broadcasters to pay royalties for the music they use to make billions of dollars;
  2. require all radio services– terrestrial, satellite, Internet & cable — to pay a FAIR MARKET RATE to music creators; and
  3. ensure that artists who recorded music before 1972 are paid the royalties they deserve.

Copyright law can be confusing and complicated. But the Fair Play, Fair Pay Act is not. The bill has one very simple, underlying policy behind it—All creators deserve fair pay, across all platforms and technologies, whenever their music is used. Period. You may recognize that statement because it is exactly what SoundExchange asked Congress to consider as the guiding principle for music licensing reform when President and CEO Michael Huppe testified last summer on the future of music licensing before the House Judiciary Committee. So, we couldn’t be happier to see how clearly that message was heard.

We’re celebrating this positive step forward for music creators, and now it’s time to get to the hard work of building the support this legislation will need to become law.