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Music Modernization Act about to become U.S. Law?

20 points by chrisweekly ↗ HN
Traditionally, the music industry (i.e. the RIAA and similar entities) has faced opposition from the internet crowd (EFF et al) on questions of copyright. This time around there didn't seem to be much of a fuss. How big a deal is the MMA?

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/09/mma-passes-house.html

11 comments

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EADGBE
This is huge for session musicians; all the people who lead normal lives but play guitar or drums for Florida Georgia Line, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, keyboards for Eminem and pretty much any pop or country-pop recording today that contains real instruments.

Even the normal people behind the studio console recording desk (Think Alan Parson producing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, before he got "big" on his own).

I'd bet members of The Wrecking Crew[1], though modest, would have really benefited from a system like this. Though they were so busy recording all the hits from the 60's and 70's the rates they made may have seemed fair at the time.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)

emodendroket
I am a little unclear what it means for various digital music services though. There is going to be a single authority they all deal with... does that affect who gets streaming rights or what the rates are?
EADGBE
The rates are still probably negotiated by contract between record label and artist (now artist/producer/engineer), which I think is what happens currently. The database would mostly just track play count, and who gets their share of that play count.
gcb0
the norm every time is to limit "credited jobs" even more.
justtopost
Small nitpick, the 'wrecking crew' was just that guys side band, not the famous session musicians. Look up Carol Kaye, the famous bassist. She sets the record straight. The 'crew' was mostly a retroactively titled cash grab.
walterbell
Does SoundExchange have competitors? Seems to be a U.S. commercial entity that will administer international music rights, rather than a government or non-profit org.

Ideally, the industry-standard database and accounting systems would be based on auditable open-source software, where the playback data used to calculate payments is tamper-resistant and replicated.

gcb0
bgm, emi, rca...

most of my musicians and producers acquaintances have never mentioned soundexchange involved in a music royalties transaction. Ever. I guess it only matters to music distribution inside the usa, while the others cover usa and international.