U.S. Copyright Office Study Voices Support For All Music Creators

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2015 -- We at A2IM, the American Association of Independent Music, would like to thank Register Maria Pallante and her colleagues at the U.S. Copyright Office for their "Copyright and the Music Marketplace" report which covers many issues of importance to our Independent music label community of Small and Medium-Sized businesses (SMEs). Our community of sound recording owners invests in the creation of music and collectively, per Billboard Magazine, comprised over 35% of recorded music industry copyright ownership sales revenues in 2014. We agree and support the Copyright Office's copyright revision recommendations in almost all areas, especially related to licensing rate parity for all creators and users, thus eliminating "breakage" and ensuring greater licensing transparency, as well as, the enactment of Performance Right legislation so that sound recording creators are compensated for their investments in music by AM/FM Terrestrial radio and the federalization of Pre-1972 copyrights, among many other important recommendations crucial to the financial well-being of our SME creator community. We note numerous references to A2IM's filings and A2IM member discussion comments in the Register's report and we thank the Register's Office for listening. We look forward to having an ongoing dialogue as Congress moves forward to create pro-creator revisions to music copyright law." -Rich Bengloff, President of the American Association of Independent Music ("A2IM")

ABOUT A2IM
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, A2IM is a not-for-profit trade organization serving the Independent music community as a unified voice representing a sector that, according to Billboard Magazine, comprises 35.1% of the music industry's recorded music market share in the United States. The organization represents the Independents' interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community.

The organization's board of directors is composed of the following: Razor & Tie President Craig Balsam, Concord Music Group President Glen Barros, Secretly Label Group Head of Domestic Sales & Marketing Cathy Bauer, Smithsonian Folkways Director of Marketing & Sales Richard Burgess, Epitaph/Anti- General Manager Dave Hansen, Hopeless Records Owner Louis Posen, Dualtone Music Group CEO/Co-Founder Scott Robinson, Kill Rock Stars Owner/President Portia Sabin, Glassnote Records General Manager Chris Scully, Ole SVP Digital Jim Selby and Tommy Boy Owner/CEO Thomas Silverman. A2IM's president's advisory committee is Loma Vista Recordings Label Manager Josh Berman, Mack Avenue Records President Denny Stilwell and Compass Records Group Co-Founder Garry West. A2IM's Worldwide Independent Network lead representative is Wind-up Records General Manager Alan Galbraith.

For more information on A2IM, please visit a2im.org