CONYERS Urges Congress to Support FAIR PAY FOR ARTISTS & MUSICIANS

Conyers & Four Tops Founding Member Duke Fakir Call on Congress to Pass Fair Play Fair Pay Act

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) joined U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) as well as legendary Four Tops founding member, Duke Fakir, T Bone Burnett, Roseanne Cash, and more than three dozen artists and musicians at a press conference in support of H.R. 1733, the Fair Play Fair Pay Act. The legislation would harmonize and modernize the outdated rules that currently govern music licensing for digital and terrestrial radio broadcasts.

(L2R) John Conyers, Duke Fakir, Darrell Issa,
Marsha Blackburn and Jerrold Nadler

“Detroit has many legacy artists who have never received fair compensation for their groundbreaking contributions to the music industry,” said Ranking Member John Conyers. “Failing to adequately pay artists and musicians, undermines their potential to create music. The Fair Play Fair Pay Act would provide long-overdue fairness for artists regardless of when their music was recorded or where it is played.” 

Key components of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act:

·         Creates a terrestrial performance right so that AM/FM radio competes on equal footing with its Internet and satellite competitors who already pay performance royalties. This would resolve the decades old struggle for performance rights and ensure that – for the first time – music creators would have the right to fair pay when their performances are broadcast on AM/FM radio.

·         Brings true platform parity to radio – so that all forms of radio, regardless of the technology they use – pay fair market value for music performances. This levels the playing field and ends the unfair and illogical distortions caused by the different royalty standards that exist today.

·         Ensures terrestrial royalties are affordable capping royalties for stations with less than $1 million in annual revenue at $500 per year (and at $100 a year for non-commercial stations), while protecting religious and incidental uses of music from having to pay any royalties at all.

·         Makes a clear statement that pre-1972 recordings have value and those who are profiting from them must pay appropriate royalties for their use, while we closely monitor the litigation developments on this issue.

·         Protects songwriters and publishers by clearly stating that nothing in this bill can be used to lower songwriting royalties.

·         Codifies industry practices streamlining the allocation of royalty payments to music producers.

·         Ensures artists receive their fair share from direct licensing of all performances eligible for the statutory license.

 
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“CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF MOTOWN MUSIC”

Featuring special appearances by:

Legendary Motown Founder Berry Gordy, Sony Music Chairman & Ceo Doug Morris, Broadway Producer Kevin Mccollum

AND PERFORMANCES BY CAST MEMBERS FROM THE NATIONAL TOUR OF MOTOWN THE MUSICAL

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), The National Theatre, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group,in coordination with the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Creative Rights Caucus, are hosting “Celebrating the Legacy of Motown Music” today, Thursday, December 3^rd in the Rayburn House Office Building.

The special event will honor the iconic recordings of the legendary label, which include ‘The Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman” (1961), The Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go” (1964), The Temptations’ “My Girl” (1964), The Jackson 5’s “ABC” (1970), and so many others.

The event will also feature special appearances by legendary Motown Records founder and Motown the Musical producer Berry Gordy, Sony Music Chairman & CEO and Motown the Musical co-producer Doug Morris, Motown the Musical co-producer Kevin McCollum and special performances by cast members from the North American Tour of Motown the Musical, playing at D.C.’s National Theatre starting December 1^st.  Rep. Conyers (D-Michigan) will introduce a resolution in the House of Representatives honoring the achievements of Berry Gordy and the musical history he created through Motown Records.

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Original Motown Sound Engineer Michael Grace Honored in Detroit

Michael Grace, one of Motown's original sound engineers is honored by the Motown Museum.

Having started his career recording the sounds of the likes of Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin out of his bathroom for acoustics, Michael was pivotal in crafting the sounds of Motown and spirit of Detroit we all love today.

The Motown Museum

Detroit, Michigan
September 12, 2013 
I'm STILL on Cloud 9 after FINALLY getting into Motown after a lifetime of worshipping each and every note that ever spilled outta there. I spent countless afternoons of my youth sitting out on the front lawn in front of the little house that was Motown, watching the stars walk in and praying I could hear something seeping through the walls so I "knew" all the songs before they even came on the radio.

Through the years I have written songs and worked with some of the greatest Motown songwriters, like Lamont Dozier , Ashford & Simpson, and Leon Ware. As more and more Motown artists started singing on "The D", I realized it was imperative to finally penetrate the castle walls. This happened when Paul Riser, gifted Funk Brothertrombonist and arranger of classics like "My Girl" and "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", arranged for us to be the first folks to "record" in the studio since Motown closed its Detroit doors in 1972.  We brought our laptop studio into the Snakepit and recorded Paul, Ed Wolfrum and Michael Grace, the engineers who literally built the studio in the early 60's, and the family of legendary Motown bassistJames Jamerson. Thank you, Paul Riser, for putting this all together. It was a totally magic day and the stuff of dreams for me.

To learn more about "The D", the record, video, and feature length documentary go here. 

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Congress Addresses Digital Gaming And Music Industry

In a nutshell, Google which recently acquired Motorola is suing Microsoft on patent law violations on import of XBox which it owns.

The letter below is against the banning of XBox.

Even though it is legally technical it is relevant to Detroit as the city has the first satellite Patent and Trademark Office and is home to emerging market of music digital technology, an industry that I am promoting for Michigan.

On June 21, 2012 U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust will hold a hearing on "The Universal Music Group/EMI Merger and the Future of Online Music".  The hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., June 21 in 226 Dickerson.

I have been aggressively working with the Senate Judiciary and George Clinton to incorporate relevant issues surrounding the musicians of Detroit and the derivative markets of digital sampling and the impacts of the merger.

Digital music and its sampling, uniquely historic to Detroit, is a major product used in the gaming industry.

I will report on its progress.

U.S. Judiciary Letter To International Trade Commission On XBox 360 Gaming EntertainmentVoting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

U.S. Senate Judiciary Antitrust Committee To Hold Hearings on Motown Recording Artists Copyright and Royalty Abuses

George Clinton and U.S. Representative
John Conyers, Jr.

Music icon George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic has previously taken the lead on the issue of recapturing copyrights working with U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr. Mr. Clinton has suggested to the Committee that Mrs. Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family may be interested in sharing her views in testimony. U.S. Senate Judiciary Antitrust Committee To Hold Hearings on Motown Recording Artists Copyright and Royalt... Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©