Posts by Marco Foley

CRB receives second round of “frozen mechanicals” comments from international songwriter groups

November 24, 2021

Music Creators North America has again joined with our member organizations, the Songwriters Guild of America and the Society of Composers & Lyricists, and with individual music creators Rick Carnes and Ashley Irwin to file further comments regarding the proposed freezing of U.S. mechanical royalty rates. These comments were submitted to the US Copyright Royalty…

International songwriter groups join MCNA in opposing the freezing of mechanical royalty rates in the US

July 27, 2021

Music Creators North America, the Songwriters Guild of America and the Society of Composers & Lyricists have been joined by nine domestic and international groups representing the interests of half a million songwriters and composers in filing comments before the US Copyright Royalty Board. The groups express strenuous objection to the proposed adoption by the…

Streaming “needs a complete reset”. UK government inquiry concurs with FTMI study on revenue parity

July 18, 2021

After ten months of analysis, discussions and expert testimony, the UK government has released the results of its inquiry into the Economics of Music Streaming and concluded that the system “needs a complete reset”. The 122-page report lists the reasons that the music streaming model is not working and proposes a number of corrective actions…

US music creator organizations SGA, SCL and MCNA applaud Copyright Office “best practices” recommendations to the MLC

July 9, 2021

Groups also warn “there is a long way to go” toward identifying the proper recipients of unmatched royalties. New York City, July 9, 2021: The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL), and the Music Creators of North America (MCNA) coalition enthusiastically welcomes yesterday’s announcement that the US Copyright Office…

MCNA partner CIAM welcomes the Ivors Academy to its global family of creator alliances

June 30, 2021

MCNA’s international partner, the International Council of Music Creators, has welcomed the Ivors Academy of Music Creators as CIAM Observers. Aligned with the goals of CIAM, the new connection with the Ivors Academy allows music creators in the U.K. and globally to collaborate on vital issues, share important information, and increase the effectiveness of campaigns…

Physical sales and downloads: Why they still matter to music creators

June 11, 2021

How important are the sales of CDs, vinyl records and downloads to artists, songwriters, composers and record labels? This question has become a hot topic recently in regard to mechanical royalty rates for CDs, vinyl and downloads in the world’s largest music market, the US, where the rate for the next 5 years is being…

MCNA President, Eddie Schwartz, honored with SOCAN Cultural Impact Award

May 28, 2021

We are proud to share the news that MCNA president, Eddie Schwartz, has been awarded the 2021 SOCAN Cultural Impact Award for his international influence as a songwriter. In delivering this prestigious accolade to Eddie, the judges of the 32nd annual SOCAN Awards paid the following tribute: His impact as a songwriter on the international…

Campaign for fairness in mechanical copyrights gathers momentum with further reporting

May 25, 2021

Further to the recent article in the Trichrodist, a second report on songwriter’s effort increase the fairness of mechanical copyright roaylties has appeared on the Complete Music Update website. In the article, author Chris Cooke writes: In a letter to the CRB earlier this month, those other organizations – led by Music Creators Of North…

MCNA letter regarding fairness and transparency on frozen mechanicals

May 18, 2021

Sent to the US Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC Date: May 17, 2021 Recipients: Chief Copyright Royalty Judge, Jesse M. Feder; Copyright Royalty Judge, David R. Strickler; and Copyright Royalty, Judge Steve Ruwe Your Honors: As a US-led coalition representing hundreds of thousands of songwriters and composers from across the United States and…

Honoring indigenous American music creators and artists

May 3, 2021

Update from Executive Committee member, Charles Sanders: “It was my honor this afternoon to moderate an A2IM Panel that included three of the best young singer songwriters working and writing today: Quinn Christopherson, Raye Zaragoza and Katherine “KP” Paul (Black Belt Eagle Scout). We had a terrific, wide-ranging conversation on the opportunities and challenges facing…