The musicFIRST Coalition Applauds Unanimous Passage of the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act by the U.S. Senate

Washington, D.C. (September 18, 2018)- The musicFIRST Coalition today applauded the unanimous passage of the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act (S. 2823) by the U.S. Senate.

This landslide success in the Senate follows unanimous passage of the legislation by the entire U.S. House of Representatives (415-0) in April.

With overwhelming support from both chambers of Congress, this historic bill is closer than ever to becoming law. The entire music community worked tirelessly with nearly every Member of Congress to craft and pass a bill that will benefit American music creators for years to come.

Chris Israel, musicFIRST’s Executive Director, issued the following statement on the Senate’s passage of the bill:

“After passing unanimously in the House of Representatives earlier this year, the musicFIRST Coalition is thrilled to see the Senate follow suit with unanimous passage of the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act. We thank U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch, Sheldon Whitehouse, Lamar Alexander, Chris Coons, Charles Grassley, Dianne Feinstein and John Kennedy, as well the over 70 other cosponsors for spearheading this historic legislation. We also thank the entire music industry – artists, songwriters, record labels, publishers, technology companies, and more – for their years-long commitment to come to a solution that all parties could enthusiastically stand behind.

“The Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act will bring music licensing laws into the 21stcentury and cement the framework for a just relationship between music creators and the technology companies that benefit from their work, it is also important to note the impact it will have on legacy artists. Through the CLASSICS provision of this bill legacy artists will finally receive the fair compensation they so rightly deserve. Today is a historic day for music creators of all generations and these much-needed reforms will properly value the music that we all love and enjoy well into the future.”