It’s no surprise that the dawn of digital music rocked the music business – the ways and means with which we consume music has shifted radically over the last decade, from physical to digital download, now to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. And though the way we consume music has dramatically shifted, there has not been an in-kind shift in how artists and songwriters are being compensated for their work. Enter the Music Modernization Act, which unanimously passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee last week (after unanimously passing the House in late April). The MMA looks to close loopholes that kept legacy artists from collecting royalties, as well as create a more-streamlined process by which artists, composers, producers, and mixers can collect and track royalties when their work is licensed. This music copyright law is a huge win for all of us music makers, and hopefully is the first in a long line of changes being made to the way that streaming services compensate creators.
