Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

A Sustainable Music Industry For The 21st Century, Aloe Blacc, Irina D. Manta, David S. Olson

David S. Olson

This essay argues that the current system of music licensing must be completely overhauled. At this time, songwriters are paid a mere pittance when their work is played through Internet streaming services. The paper traces the evolution of compulsory licensing from the early 20th century, when Congress put this system in place due to concerns over the monopolization of the player piano industry, to today. This essay shows how the separation between copyrights for compositions as opposed to public performances contributed to blanket licensing through royalty-collecting organizations like ASCAP and BMI, which — together with government intervention into pricing based …