Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Music Modernization Act, Industry Reacts

[UPDATED] The Senate Judiciary Committee today unanimously voted to approve the Music Modernization Act, including the CLASSICS Act. The comprehensive legislations updates music licensing laws for the streaming era.

Today's committee vote follows the unanimous approval by the House of Representatives of similar legislation.

SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe reacts:

"Today, lawmakers continued to make progress on legislation that will result in the most comprehensive music licensing reform in our lifetimes. Music creators have waited long enough for Congress to reform our nation's outdated copyright laws. Now it's time for the full Senate to vote on the Music Modernization Act and send a bill to the president for his signature." 

“We are grateful that the Senate Judiciary Committee has taken the next vital step to advance the Music Modernization Act. Music speaks to all parties, all people, in all places. And when a community comes together as we have done, with no segment getting everything they want but recognizing injustice and working toward a common goal, anything is possible. We welcome the momentum surrounding this bill and thank Senators Grassley, Feinstein, Hatch, Coons, Kennedy and all of the cosponsors, for leading the charge in the Senate to right a long-standing wrong with the CLASSICS Act. We look forward to Senate passage of the entire MMA, and this crucial bill finally becoming law.”

 ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews on today’s passage:

"ASCAP thanks Chairman Grassley for bringing the Music Modernization Act to markup and to Senators Hatch, Alexander and Whitehouse for being such stalwart champions of songwriters. We are happy to see this legislation move forward with such broad bipartisan support. While there is still more work to be done to create a fair environment for songwriters in the digital age, we hope the Senate will move swiftly to pass a version of this bill that preserves the much-needed benefits for music creators."

BMI’s President & CEO, Mike O’Neill: 

“Today’s vote is an important step towards achieving meaningful music licensing reform that will benefit America’s songwriters, composers and publishers.  The MMA, if enacted, will help ensure that music creators are compensated fairly for their work.  We applaud the unprecedented collaboration across our industry that helped move this bill forward and thank the full Senate Judiciary Committee, particularly Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Feinstein, and longtime songwriter advocate Senator Hatch, for their leadership and support of this extremely important piece of legislation.”