Music Modernization Act
Passed in 2018, the Music Modernization Act (MMA) is one of the biggest updates to music law in the last 20 years.
Before this law, the rules around paying songwriters were outdated and didn’t match the way people listen to music today. Streaming had taken over, but the system was still stuck in the CD era. The MMA changed that.
The MMA is made up of three major parts:
The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC)
The MMA created the MLC, the organization that now collects and pays digital mechanical royalties for songwriters and publishers in the United States. It made the process easier, more accurate, and more transparent.
The CLASSICS Act
Prior to the MMA, recordings made before 1972 didn’t automatically receive federal copyright protection. That meant older artists were often unpaid when their songs were streamed. The MMA gave pre-1972 recordings modern copyright protection and made streaming services pay these artists fairly.
The AMP Act
This section created a simple system for producers, mixers, and engineers to receive digital performance royalties through SoundExchange, something many of them struggled to get before.
Why the MMA matters for songwriters:
- It made royalty systems clearer and more modern.
- It pushed streaming companies to follow the same rules.
- It created one unified place (the MLC) to handle mechanical royalties.
- It increased fairness for older musicians and behind-the-scenes creators.
Overall, the Music Modernization Act brought the music industry into the streaming age — making sure songwriters, artists, and producers get the credit and pay they deserve.
