NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison

President Trump’s official signing of the Hatch-Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (MMA) into law Thursday morning (Oct. 11) was what Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Executive Director Bart Herbison calls “the most important songwriter legislation, certainly in the modern digital delivery era of music.”

With the MMA now officially law, work begins on the two-year process of forming the 14-seat Music Licensing Collective (MLC), which will officially begin its work on Jan. 1, 2021.

“It will be a while before the tools in the bill affect any increases in songwriter streaming royalties,” Herbison tells MusicRow Magazine.

The MLC will include four self-published songwriters with statutory seats. The remaining 10 seats will belong to publishers, though Herbison notes that several of the top publishers in Nashville are either wholly-owned or joint venture companies owned by songwriters.

NSAI, along with ASCAP, BMI, SONA, and the Songwriters Guild of America, have already begun the process that will accept nominations for songwriter board positions on the Music Licensing Committee, as well as songwriters on both dispute resolutions and unclaimed works committees. Herbison expects those board appointments will be made by early 2019.

“Anybody can submit names and everybody who meets the criteria outlined in the bill will be eligible,” Herbison says. “The committee is still finalizing the process of how those are chosen. As I understand it, the music publishers are also undertaking a similar process to choose those seats.

“The U.S. Copyright Office will acknowledge the Board in the governance structure of the MLC, so they have some oversight over that. After everybody is seated and the rules are set down, the copyright office will approve that. There are also things such as vendor selections, hiring staff, and locating the MLC. Then we get about the business of licensing millions of songs, and being able to administer the mechanical licenses by Jan. 1, 2021.”

Under the MMA, if a songwriter is signed to a publishing deal, mechanical royalties collected by the MLC will go to the publisher; the payment is recoupable, then it goes to the songwriter. The same holds if a songwriter previously had a publishing agreement, and the song titles being played by streaming services are still under the publisher contract.

“One of the beautiful parts of this bill, is we have lots of songwriters that are not under a publishing agreement and in that case the payment goes directly to the songwriters. A lot of indie songwriters and serious hobbyists that make some royalties, but not enough to be their main income, in the past just haven’t bothered with them. Now, once the MLC begins on Jan. 1, 2021, all you have to do is register with us.”

Streaming companies will be paying for the collection exercises and operation of the MLC, which Herbison says allows for revenues that go through the MLC to become “the first income stream where songwriters will receive 100 cents out of every dollar.”

As for license rate projections for ASCAP and BMI, Herbison says, “BMI is in a rate proceeding right now but it’s grandfathered so the MMA won’t impact that. The rate proceedings with BMI and ASCAP is staggered so the next rate proceeding that could fall under evidentiary changes on how performance royalties are set would be ASCAP’s in a few years. A couple of things can happen with this—they can negotiate with the services and see if they can determine rates. The services obviously would be much more willing to negotiate since there are more favorable rules, and there are also a different way the ASCAP judges are selected. We will see how that plays out, there will either be a negotiation or a rate court proceeding. In four years is the next CRB, on the mechanical licensing side. The same process will ensue—we either negotiate or we go through another copyright royalty board trial.”

Herbison notes that a recent CRB trial against the five top streaming services (Google, Apple, Amazon, Pandora and Spotify) earned the largest mechanical increase in history, at 44 percent.

The mechanical increases will begin in January 2019, with an 8.5 percent increase each year for the next five years.

“I’m told by many writers and publishers that this past statement period, they have seen a 20-35 percent increase in royalties already and I think that is related to the MMA, because I believe it is a combination of growth in streaming but I believe the streaming companies are also cleaning up their books and finding unclaimed money that’s been out there. I have writers tell me, ‘I’m being paid on titles—it may be small amounts—I’ve never been paid on before.’

“The 8.5 percent increase starts in January and that will happen for the next five years, then ASCAP is next in the queue, then the mechanicals,” Herbison says of the long-range timeline for increasing songwriter royalties. “So we will see some steady growth, along with the growth of streaming, for a long, long time.”

ASCAP, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, will host a lineup of top female songwriters, producers, artists and engineers for its first ‘She Is The Music Song Camp,’ set at Ron Fair’s Faircraft Studio in Nashville, Oct. 17 – 19.

Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated Mary J. Blige will join Big Loud artist Jillian Jacqueline, songwriter Audra Mae, Sony Music Nashville duo The Sisterhood and Grammy-winning writer/artist Emily Weisband.

The industrywide initiative was created in response to a music industry report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, with data revealing huge inequalities for female musicians. ‘She Is The Music Song Camp’ is aimed at increasing opportunities for and empower female music creators, progressing inclusivity and equality with the goal of transforming the landscape of the business.

Additional participants include writers Stacey Barthe (“Cheers (Drink to That),” Rihanna), Ingrid Burley (“Love Drought,” Beyonce), singer/songwriter/pianist Anna Graceman, ASCAP Foundation Sammy Cahn prize winner/UMPG writer Caylee Hammack, PJ (Wiz Khalifa, Usher, Chris Brown, Charlie Puth, Fantasia), Priscilla Renea (“Timber,” Pitbull, “California King,” Rihanna), engineer Kesha Lee (Childish Gambino, Migos), engineer Maria Elisa Ayerbe (Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, JLo), producer/singer/songwriter Ali Stone, songwriter/producer Femke Weidema, and production duo The Wildcardz (Justin Park, Carly Paige). The effort was cofounded by Alicia Keys, Universal Music Publishing Group Chairman and CEO Jody Gerson, Grammy Award-winning engineer Ann Mincieli and WME partner and head of East Coast Music Samantha Kirby.

“I’m looking forward to collaborating with these amazing women and to contribute to the goals of She Is The Music,” said Mary J. Blige. “We all have the power to create change. As we continue to lift each other up, we will be unstoppable.”

“ASCAP is thrilled to be part of this trailblazing effort and bring this incredible group of talented women together for our first She Is The Music song camp,” said ASCAP Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Matthews. “As a company, ASCAP is proud to have a large number of women in executive leadership positions, and we have a long history of successful song camps that have brought men and women together to write some of the biggest hit songs. We believe that still more can be done to further an inclusive music industry culture. To that end, it is important to give women as many opportunities as possible to share their talents with the world. She Is The Music is a wonderful way to bring us all together to focus on that goal.”

Pictured (L-R): Mike Fisher, Danita’s Children VP & Field Director Karris Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Danita’s Children Founder & CEO Danita Estrella Watts, and John Watts. Photo: Jeff Johnson

For the second consecutive year, Carrie Underwood and husband, former Nashville Predators Captain, Mike Fisher hosted a star-studded benefit last Thursday night (Oct. 4) in Franklin, Tennessee which raised nearly $600,000 for Danita’s Children. The organization is dedicated to educating, empowering, and equipping the children and families of Haiti.

“I am so humbled and grateful that Mike and Carrie would use their platforms to bring awareness to the great need and suffering of the children of Haiti,” said Danita Estrella Watts, who founded the organization in 1999. “The funds raised this night will be used to transform the lives of, literally, thousands of children as we provide them with quality education, medical care, and loving homes.”

Pictured (L-R): Carrie Underwood and husband Mike Fisher address the more than 450 patrons at the Danita’s Children benefit. Photo: Jeff Johnson

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam provided the opening prayer for the evening, which was attended by over 450 patrons at the invitation-only event. Television host Elisabeth Hasselbeck returned this year to emcee the event, which was highlighted by an intimate concert by Underwood and superstar Brad Paisley. Performance painter Jared Emerson created an amazing work of art over the course of the evening. The painting and numerous other items, trips and experiences were sold through live and silent auctions.

“Thank you to all who came to @danitaschildren gala last night,” said Fisher via Twitter, who first visited the Danita’s Children center with Underwood in Haiti in 2014 and have been passionate supporters ever since. “We laughed and cried and celebrated a great ministry. Thanks @bradpaisley @jaredemerson @ehasselbeck you guys are awesome!”

The mission of Danita’s Children is to rescue, love, and care for orphaned and impoverished children in Haiti, meeting their needs physically, emotionally, educationally, and spiritually so that they are empowered to become leaders in their communities and nation.

Pictured (L-R): Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley perform at the Danita’s Children benefit. Photo: Jeff Johnson

Alicia Pruitt

Alicia Pruitt, longtime Warner/Chappell Nashville senior A&R executive, has launched Nashville-based talent management company Madfun Entertainment, in partnership with Red Light Management.

Madfun will provide full service talent management, serving artists and songwriters across the music industry. With a roster including up-and-coming Atlantic Records Recording artist Josie Dunne, Pruitt will represent, promote, and guide talent through every stage of their career.

Pruitt will continue consulting with Warner/Chappell, and supporting songwriters Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, Brantley Gilbert, and Lauren Alaina. Since joining Warner/Chappell in 2005, Pruitt has signed new talent, secured top cuts for the publisher’s songwriters, and furthered songwriters’ and artists’ careers.

She can be reached at alicia.pruitt@redlightmanagement.com or 615-635-0522.