Opinion: Artists make magic for us, let's be sure they're all compensated
By Guest Columnist Tommy Thayer / The Oregonian
Music is magic. It makes us feel good and brings people together. It helps us celebrate and commemorate, and when it's live, there's nothing better. I am fortunate, I make a good living doing the thing I love most: writing, recording and performing music. And I get to do it in KISS, one of the world's most famous rock bands.
We all love the timeless music we grew up on and for most of us that's the iconic pop music of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Unfortunately, many of the recording artists and those who own the rights to those great songs recorded prior to Feb. 15, 1972 are not receiving adequate compensation for their work from radio and digital streaming-services. This situation is particularly damaging for an aging artist whose sole form of retirement income may depend on a single hit from decades ago.
That's why it's great news that the music industry - including musicians, record companies and most streaming services - agreed to end this longstanding injustice by supporting the 2018 Music Modernization Act and its CLASSICS provisions. The modernization act is a long-overdue piece of legislation which does a number of things, including modernizing music copyright laws and creating a more fair and easy-to-navigate digital platform for the commercial buying and selling of music. The CLASSICS provision is the part of the act that specifically ensures fair and consistent royalties are paid to older artists (or their surviving families) for the commercial use of songs that were recorded prior to 1972.
Compromise and cooperation can be as rare in the professional music world as it is in Congress. That's what makes the Music Modernization Act and its CLASSICS provisions historic. Reflecting that historic cooperation, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the act unanimously, 415-0, this past April.
I applaud Oregon's U.S. House delegation for their unanimous and bi-partisan support of the act. Oregon's congressional leaders, through their support of the Music Modernization Act, clearly reflect Oregon's strong artistic culture and deep musical history. Now that the bill is waiting for a vote in the U.S. Senate, I'm hopeful that Oregon's two senators will continue to lead the way.
It is critical that the act pass through the Senate without obstacle or delay. I would ask our Senators and everyone else considering this act to understand that for every hour a musician stands on stage in front of fans, there are thousands of hours spent practicing and rehearsing. Every hit song heard on the radio or streaming represents countless hours of work, creative effort and even failure before finding that perfect lyric, melody or guitar riff. It's finally time to put a law in place ensuring that all music creators and recording artists - past, present and future - are fairly compensated for the music (and the magic) that we all continue to enjoy.
-- Tommy Thayer, lead guitarist for KISS, was born in Portland and graduated from Sunset High School, class of 1978. He's currently on the Pacific University Board of Trustees, President of the Oregon Military Museum Project, and Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee. When not on tour, he divides his time between Oregon and Southern California.
