Congress will review another piece of proposed legislation aimed at redistributing digital royalties across the range of people who create music. The Allocation for Music Producers Act, also known as AMP, devotes a share of digital royalties to a song’s producers, mixers, and engineers.
Supporters of the proposed legislation see it as a natural progression from the “Letter of Direction” development, a process managed by SoundExchange which lets artists request to redistribute a portion of their 45% digital royalty share to those professionals. If passed, the Act would make this elective practice part of the law. The Act also has a provision for the redistribution on songs from before 1995, which that artist royalty rate was established.
SoundExchange would manage those payments if they become standard. The company confirmed that the process is already in place, and that the bill would make the existing practice part of the law. “It is our hope that this bill will go even further to cement the rights and ability for producers and engineers to collect their hard-earned revenue,” it said in a blog post discussing the Act.
The AMP Act is just one of the latest pieces of legislation covering music rights to reach Congress. The Hill is also reviewing the Local Radio Freedom Act and the Songwriter Equity Act. The LRFA covers the subject of whether broadcast radio will continue to be exempted from paying performance royalties. The SEA, back for a second go, will once again make a push to amend the Copyright Act and change how royalties to a song’s composer are calculated.