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Statement by musicFIRST Following Unanimous Passage of the Music Modernization Act by the U.S. House of Representatives

Statement by musicFIRST Following Unanimous Passage of the Music Modernization Act by the U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. (April 25, 2018) – The musicFIRST Coalition today applauded unanimous passage of the Music Modernization Act [H.R. 5447] by the U.S. House of Representatives with a vote of 415-0.

Chris Israel, musicFIRST’s Executive Director, issued the following statement following the legislation’s passage:

“This is an historic day for music creators.  An overwhelming majority of Republicans and Democrats voted to bring U.S. music licensing into the 21st century and deliver justice for legacy music creators. The musicFIRST Coalition congratulates and thanks House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Doug Collins, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Rep. Darrell Issa and many others for their unwavering support of this critical legislation and for making today’s historic vote a reality.

“Comprehensive music licensing reform enjoyed broad support in the House and throughout the entire music industry. As the effort to update America’s music laws moves to the Senate, it’s critical for Senators to consider the package of legislation in a holistic rather than individual manner. Enacting the entire Music Modernization Act package approved overwhelmingly by the House will provide much-needed updates to music licensing and create a framework benefiting music creators, listening platforms and fans well into the future.”

To learn more about musicFIRST Coalition, visit www.musicfirstcoalition.org and join the conversation on Twitter @musicFIRST and on Facebook.

About A2IM:
A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector. Membership currently includes a broad coalition of more than 700 Independently-owned American music labels. A2IM represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so, it supports a key segment of America’s creative class that represents America’s diverse musical cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine identified the Independent music label sector as 37.32 percent of the music industry’s U.S. recorded music sales market in 2016 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest music industry sector.

Learn more about A2IM here.
For information about how to join our community, see here.