Modernizing the Music Business for the Streaming Era

Amid an atmosphere of intense political partisanship, a rare and remarkable thing happened in Washington this week: Both parties came together to solve a problem — in this instance, in the music world.

With music streaming on the rise, lawmakers hammered out legislation that will update copyright laws and create a new licensing system for streaming services in an effort to bring the music business into the 21st Century. The legislation, known as the Music Modernization Act, (renamed the Hatch-Goodlatte Music Modernization Act), passed both the House and Senate unanimously and will become law once the president signs it.

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman speaks with John Schaefer, host of WNYC’s New Sounds, about how the new law will work and how it will affect music-listening consumers.

Schaefer also discusses how artists and labels are trying to boost the number of plays on streaming services in order to score a number one hit on the Billboard charts.