Music Canada joins our American counterparts in applauding the United States Senate following its unanimous passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) yesterday evening. The MMA, which was broadly supported by music organizations across the United States, is a comprehensive bill that includes the CLASSICS Act, legislation that guarantees artists and labels who recorded music before 1972 a federal right to be paid for those recordings when played by digital radio outlets.

The U.S. music community was united in its support of the MMA, with organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Music Publishers Association, ASCAP, SoundExchange, musicFIRST, and the Recording Academy advocating strongly for the bipartisan bill. Thousands of artists spoke up in support of the legislation, including Roseanne Cash and Dionne Warwick, who advocated for the bill in the House of Representatives; Smokey Robinson, who testified at the U.S. Senate; and Maren Morris and Adam Levine, who were vocal supporters of the bill on social media.

“We congratulate all of the artists and advocates who spoke up so passionately in support of the Music Modernization Act. As we saw with the European Parliament vote, governments are listening to creators and recognizing the need to update the legislation that affects their careers,” says Graham Henderson, President and CEO of Music Canada.

“In the past week, we have seen overwhelming support for this type of legislation from Canada’s two largest trading partners, further underlining the need for Canada to follow through with meaningful reforms,” adds Henderson. “Our government has heard from creators – the Value Gap is an urgent issue that must be addressed. It’s now time for our government to seize the opportunity and close the Value Gap in Canada.”

Music Canada has been the leading advocate for addressing the Value Gap in Canada. Our recent report, The Value Gap: Its Origins, Impacts and a Made-in-Canada Approach, examines the Value Gap and its causes, and demonstrates how it impacts artists, businesses and our nation’s cultural foundations, with a particular focus on music. The report includes recommended steps that Canada’s federal government can take today to address the inequities that artists face due to the Value Gap.

Music Canada is encouraged by the progress made in the U.S. and EU, and remains committed to continuing to work with the government of Canada to close the Value Gap here at home.