Nashville Legal Analyst And Writer Publishes ‘MODERNIZATION OF MUSIC’

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E. Maxwell, a Legislative Research Analyst for the Tennessee House of Representatives, has published MODERNIZATION OF MUSIC, a book about how technology has affected music in the digital age and one of the most important updates of United States copyright law ever: the Music Modernization Act.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee and in his last year at Nashville School of Law, MODERNIZATION OF MUSIC first began as Maxwell’s law school thesis. NSAI Executive Director, Bart Herbison, acted as his mentor in the process of writing the thesis, and interviews and statements from Herbison, NMPA President & CEO David Israelite, John Rich of Big & Rich, MLC CEO Kris Ahrend, songwriters Ross Golan and Rick Giles, and U.S. Senators Orrin G. Hatch and Lamar Alexander are also in the book.

“MODERNIZATION OF MUSIC explores how technology has affected music in the digital age,” Maxwell says. “Music is consumed much differently due to streaming services, and songwriters have been all but robbed of fair compensation under outdated laws governing their livelihoods. The book dives into the most important update of U.S. copyright law ever—the Music Modernization Act—revealing its story for the very first time through exclusive interviews from top music industry professionals and politicians across the U.S. to provide a nuanced, holistic picture of what recorded music is poised to become.”

“Songwriting almost became an extinct profession in the modern age of digital music distribution because rules more than 100 years old governed how songwriter/composer compensation was set. However, the adoption of the Music Modernization Act changed those rules. E. Maxwell manages to boil this extremely complicated topic down in an interesting and understandable way. Every music lover can get a peek behind the curtain through MODERNIZATION OF MUSIC at how the rules were updated to give American songwriters a chance to earn a fair-market wage in the era of streaming music. Job very well done!” said Herbison.

MODERNIZATION OF MUSIC is available on Amazon now, with a portion of the proceeds going to MusiCares.

LB Cantrell
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