Reps. Crowley, Rooney Introduce Allocation for Music Producers Act

songs are broadcast digitally, music producers don’t have statutory royalties for songs they help produce, it said. The AMP Act would grant producers the “statutory right to receive compensation for the recordings they produce through the letter of direction process,” it said. HR-1457 would also “establish a procedure for producers and engineers to seek permission from featured artists or their heirs to receive appropriate royalty payments for sound recordings older than 1995,” which was when the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act was passed, it said. “Our AMP Act will ensure that every music professional receives what he or she has earned,” Crowley said. “Our bipartisan bill makes sure that hardworking studio professionals receive the royalties they earned in a fair and streamlined manner,” said Rooney. “For years, SoundExchange has proactively supported artist requests to direct royalties to the producers and engineers who work with them, and we fully support adding this practice to ensure fair payment into law,” said CEO Michael Huppe. The Recording Academy’s Producers and Engineers Wing’s Steering Committee had “considerable input” on the bill’s development, said Daryl Friedman, Recording Academy chief advocacy & industry relations officer, in a separate blog post. “The AMP Act is also the natural progression of work already being done by SoundExchange, the independent digital performance rights agency, which has already been paying out producer shares voluntarily.”