BROADCASTERS URGE PASSAGE OF MMA

Broadcasters’ associations from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have sent a letter Sens. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer urging the Senate to pass the Music Modernization Act.

The part they like most? No new performance royalty for terrestrial radio.

Secondly, broadcasters are pleased that the MMA formalizes Congressional oversight of the Department of Justice’s review of the antitrust consent decrees governing ASCAP and BMI. The MMA will help prevent “marketplace chaos” should those decrees be terminated without a sufficient alternative framework in place.

“Unwarranted changes or termination of these decrees that form the backbone of the music licensing marketplace would have a drastic impact on all who publicly perform music, from local broadcast stations, to digital music services, to bars and restaurants, ultimately restricting access to music and harming consumers.”