They Said It: Artists Advocate for Fair Pay Before Congress

Before artists took to the stage on Sunday night for the 60^th Annual GRAMMY Awards, music legends came together to raise awareness for outdated laws hurting music creators.

Music creators including Dionne Warwick, Mike Clink, Aloe Blacc and Booker T. Jones, testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on a highly bipartisan issue – fair compensation for ALL music creators. The hearing entitled, “Music Policy Issues: A Perspective from Those Who Make It,” took place on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018, at Fordham University School of Law.

Below are some highlights from their testimonies.

• “Correct the law now so that all music creators – whether they write, play, sing, produce, or engineer – can make a living from the work they do that enriches all our lives.” – Booker T. Jones, recording artists, songwriter and producer

• “All we’re asking for is fair market value for our creative works – which requires a system better designed to determine that fair market value.” – Aloe Blacc, artist and songwriter

• “There are entire channels on SiriusXM dedicated to music of the 60s & 70s…but we get absolutely nothing for the music played on the 60s and 70s channels recorded before [1972]. Isn’t that ridiculous?” – Dionne Warwick, recording artist

• “Too many laws affecting music creators are rooted in the distant past, failing to adequately reflect today’s digital era and hindering creators’ abilities to earn fair value for their work.” – Mike Clink, record producer, sound engineer and mixer