In an unprecedented show of solidarity, some 150 artists and executives, including Paul McCartney, Don Henley, Carole King, Katy Perry, U2’s The Edge, Pink, Sia and hitmaker Max Martin, have signed a letter addressed to the board members of Liberty Media, corporate parent to SiriusXM. At issue: The satellite radio giant’s opposition to Music Modernization Act, which is thiscloseto passing in the Senate. Specifically: SiriusXM has raised objections to portions of the bill, which aims to protect recordings released before 1972 from falling out of copyright protection, including the exclusion of terrestrial radio from mandatory payouts to rights holders.
Says attorney Dina LaPolt, one of several advocates working on behalf of the MMA (as an attorney-advisor to SONA, or Songwriters of North America), in a statement to Variety: “As we continue to move from a product based business to a service based business, bringing the antiquated copyright act into the digital realm, SiriusXM’s unwillingness to support songwriters and artists is complete travesty given that every other group in the music industry has endorsed the bill. This shows their disgusting corporate greed at the expense of America’s greatest treasures..…. our legacy artists.”
more @ Source: Katy Perry, Pink, Max Martin, More to SiriusXM: ‘We Will Boycott’ – Variety