President's Corner
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President's Corner - August 2010 |
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Internet regulation and control have been hot topics inside and outside Washington throughout the summer, culminating with a recent announcement by Google and Verizon of a joint policy proposal for an “open Internet”. There are many nuances and interpretations involved in ferreting out what constitutes an “open Internet”, but one point remains clear: any policies and practices governing the Internet MUST make a distinction between lawful and unlawful activity, such as copyright infringement. The music community, which has strongly advocated this point (in agreement with the Federal Communications Commission), joined together in a letter to the Chairman and CEO of Google earlier this month inquiring how their particular proposal relates to the protection of content. So far no response, but we will keep you posted… The Internet is an ever-expanding tool for connecting artists and consumers, so these discussions will continue to be an important focus for the NMPA in the days ahead. One piece of the expanding Internet equation is social networking. Nielsen recently reported that one in four minutes online is spent on a social networking site. People connect, form communities and follow common interests through these sites. What better way to spread the word about the amazing work of our songwriters than through Facebook? The NMPA’s new Facebook page highlights the Gold and Platinum Songwriting Notes given to artists throughout the year. In 2007, the NMPA launched the Gold & Platinum Note Program, a companion to the recording industry’s hugely successful program recognizing top-selling recording artists. In the last three years, NMPA has made close to 600 certifications of Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum Singles, recognizing the contributions of songwriters to hit songs. Speaking of Gold and Platinum songs, Billboard has announced its No. 1 Hot 100 single of the summer, “California Gurls” by EMI singer-songwriter Katy Perry and other writers Calvin Broadus, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee and Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald. Congratulations EMI and all the songwriters. I hope you are enjoying these last weeks of summer with your own summer playlists. Until next time, David |
