Advocacy
AB5 Coverage
AB5 reclassifies many gig workers as traditional employees, ostensibly to provide them with bolstered benefits and job protection. AB5 was designed to regulate companies that hire gig workers in large numbers, such as Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash. However, freelance professionals in several industries (music among them) were essentially laid off as a result of the bill, and potentially hundreds of thousands of Californians were unable to collaborate and earn a living as they had before. See more information about AB5 here.
Billboard Chart
In 2020, A2IM partnered with Billboard to modify the inclusion parameters for the Top Independent Albums chart, expanding the “independent” definition to allow for more independently-owned labels to appear on the ranking. With this modification, the chart would be acknowledged as the official album chart of A2IM.
CREATE ART Act
Introduced by Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost in April 2024, the Cultivating Resources for Emerging Artists to Thrive and Excel Art Act Hopes to create four new federal grants for artists, which would provide anywhere from $2,000 to $100,000 for artistic activities, projects, live performances, living expenses, and more. In a coalition of other advocacy-based organizations, A2IM widely endorsed this bill and continues to support Rep. Frost in his efforts to get it passed on a federal level. See more information about the CREATE ART Act here.
DMCA
In 2016, A2IM joined nineteen other major music industry organizations and over 400 songwriters, artists and managers to call upon the U.S Copyright Office to reform the misused “safe harbor” provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and its broken “notice and takedown” system. See more information here.
Note: A “safe harbor” is a limitation on monetary legal liability that could otherwise result from the infringement or unauthorized use of copyright-protected works by an Online Service Provider’s users.
Fair Trade of Music
In 2020, A2IM joined a coalition of music industry groups to launch the “Fair Trade of Music” campaign to fight for the fair and equal treatment of music creators when their music is played in markets around the world. Many countries currently discriminate against some non-native music creators by denying them royalties for the use of their work, despite royalties being otherwise paid to creators who are nationals of those countries for the exact same use. More information about the Fair Trade of Music here.
Healthcare
In 2023, A2IM launched a new tier of A2IM Artist membership program, offering A2IM Artist Pro members discounted access to health insurance & coverage options for sole proprietors and gig workers. See more information about A2IM Artist Pro benefits here.
HEROES Act
The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act responds to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak and its impact on the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals, and businesses. Following the release of the House of Representatives’ draft HEROES Act, A2IM joined forces with SoundExchange, the Future of Music Coalition, and the Recording Academy to issue a joint statement. A2IM advocated for the adjustment of language in the HEROES Act that would provide more support and protections for small, non-commercial and community radio stations, rather than mega-radio corporations. Learn more about the HEROES Act here.
IMDB for Music
In May of 2020, A2IM endorsed Jaxsta’s initiative to provide a broader array of information, including current chart data from around the world, industry awards, a calendar of industry events and other info on the world’s top 20 music markets through one single application. See more information about Jaxta’s initiative here.
Justice in Policing Act
In 2020, A2IM issued a joint statement applauding the House Judiciary Committee’s passage of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a civil rights and police reform bill aimed at combating police misconduct, excessive force and racial bias in policing. See more information about the Justice in Policing Act here.
NO FAKES Act
A2IM supports the NO FAKES Act (Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe), which would create a federal intellectual property right to an individual’s visual likeness and voice – accelerating the push for protection against invasive AI deepfakes, voice clones and other nonconsensual digital replicas. See our statement here.
Radio
In 2020, A2IM testified on AM-FM ACR & stimulus demanding fair compensation for artists. Read full testimony here.