Statement on Introduction of the PROMOTE Act in the U.S. House of Representatives

musicFIRST Executive Director Chris Israel issued the following statement today on the introduction of the PROMOTE Act by U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA):

“While the platforms available to U.S. music fans are more innovative and diverse than ever, America’s copyright system is struggling to keep up. Music creators rightly expect to be fairly compensated for their work, regardless of whether their songs are played on satellite radio services like Sirius XM, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube or AM/FM radio. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

“The U.S. is the only developed country where music creators have no say when it comes to traditional AM/FM radio stations playing and profiting from their hard work, but without receiving a dime. Congressman Issa’s PROMOTE Act addresses this glaring inequity by empowering music creators to seek fair compensation when their works are played on terrestrial radio.

“The musicFIRST coalition thanks Congressman Issa for his vision and support. We will continue working with him and his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee as they continue their efforts to improve and modernize the U.S. copyright system.”