In the midst of the ongoing pandemic and the economic challenges impacting our industry, many of us are seeking ways to take action and effect change. Below are a few ways you can make your voice heard, as well as a virtual panel you can watch that offers a hopeful look toward the future of music.
Support the AM/FM Act
As live performance venues remain closed by government decree around the country, further limiting sources of income for artists and musicians, it’s harder than usual to stomach the fact that there is still one platform that relies on music but gets away with paying nothing at all for sound recordings—AM/FM radio. SoundExchange's Advocacy team brought this fight back to Congress last week at a briefing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Chief Legal Officer Colin Rushing declared that Congress must “lift American music creators out of this uniquely oppressive condition in which they are compensated by modern digital music services, but still forced by their government to subsidize FM radio.” AM/FM radio is the largest ad-supported music platform in the country, and they have never paid performers a dime in royalties. Now AM/FM radio is trying to find ways to keep this exemption and compete on digital platforms. To learn how to stop this, click here.
#SaveOurStages
Independent venues were the first to close, and they’ll be the last to reopen. SoundExchange is working to support those establishments that make up your tour schedule. 1,700+ independent venues across the U.S. have banded together to form the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), which is working to secure federal assistance so that independent venues can survive this pandemic. And you can help them by making your voice heard. It takes less than a minute for you to tell legislators about the vital role of these venues and the critical funding needed to #SaveOurStages.
Business (Un)Usual with D-Nice
SoundExchange President & CEO Michael Huppe recently sat down with DJ D-Nice for a discussion on how the music industry is evolving in the wake of COVID-19. The virtual panel, titled “Business (Un)Usual,” debuted as part of the Midem 2020 Digital Edition, and touched on several key themes, including the economic impacts of the pandemic, artist innovation, and the power of music in dark times. “The digital world needs to fairly compensate artists. There’s an immense amount of wealth being made out there off the music, and more of it needs to trickle down to the people that create it, the labels and the artists that provide it to these services,” said Huppe.
