Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1506201
E very year, the Recording Academy, which produces the Grammys, hosts the Grammys on the Hill event to celebrate music and promote advocacy. SAG-AFTRA leaders attended the festivities in April and used their time in Washington, D.C., to discuss the importance of the American Music Fairness Act, or AMFA, with one of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. The bill seeks to address a decades-old inequity in recording artist compensation. While music creators are compensated for streams of their songs distributed via digital providers and platforms such as SiriusXM and Spotify, they are not paid when their songs are played on AM/ FM radio stations. A bipartisan group of members of Congress is leading the charge to pass AMFA so that creators can finally be paid fairly for their work. This legislation would require that broadcast stations fairly compensate artists, session musicians and vocalists when their music is played on AM/FM radio. Additionally, the bill ensures that smaller, local or independent broadcast stations are not harmed by the legislation, as they will be either exempt or pay a small annual fee of $500 or less for the right to play music. SAG-AFTRA leadership also met with U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to rally support for the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (see page 9). Later, they participated in a press conference about the Restoring Artists' Protections, or RAP Act, a bill that would prohibit recording artists' song lyrics from being used as evidence against them when they are defendants in criminal trials. In just the last decade, the courts have seen 500 cases where rap lyrics have been introduced as evidence in legal proceedings. Proponents of the RAP Act point to racial bias as a leading reason why rap lyrics are overrepresented in criminal cases where recording artists are the defendants. The bill would ensure the courts hold prosecutors to high judicial standards, while reinforcing constitutional — specifically First Amendment — protections for creatives. Correspondents' Dinner SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland also attended the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on April 29. And, SAG-AFTRA and the Motion Picture Association hosted a reception at the MPA's headquarters celebrating the launch of the Green Council (see page 32). Music Advocates Honored On April 26, at the Grammys on the Hill award ceremony, which benefits the Grammy Museum, 13-time Grammy winner and SAG-AFTRA member Pharrell Williams, Sen. Schumer and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., were given honors for their work supporting musicians and recording artists. In recent years, Schumer and Cassidy have championed policies that support musicians. They co-sponsored the Save Our Stages Act, which was included in the bipartisan COVID relief package passed in December 2020. Schumer also sponsored a resolution designating Aug. 11, 2021, as Hip-Hop Celebration Day and the month of November 2021 as Hip-Hop History Month. In 2018, Schumer and Cassidy co-sponsored the Music Modernization Act, which updated copyright law to make statutory licensing more fair for creators and more efficient for digital music providers. The senators also played a critical role in efforts to help 272 young musicians, faculty and staff from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music escape Taliban-controlled Afghanistan so they could safely reach Qatar in 2021. Williams was awarded Grammys on the Hill's Creator Leadership Award and emphasized the importance of social justice during his acceptance speech. "Rights are important. Rights are endangered. We need that same advocacy for women, that same advocacy for the LGBTQIA community," Williams said. "So when we can shine an honest light on rights, it's a victory." SAG-AFTRA Goes to D.C. Advocacy for Recording Artists Heads to Capitol Hill President Fran Drescher delivers remarks on Capitol Hill about the importance of the RAP Act — legislation seeking to protect artists from having their creative expression, such as rap lyrics, used against them in court proceedings. NATHAN POSNER/SHUTTERSTOCK sagaftra.org | Summer 2023 | SAG-AFTRA 11