IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 102 
Expressing the sense of Congress that it is the duty of the Federal Govern-
ment to establish a new royalty program to provide income to featured 
and non-featured performing artists whose music or audio content is 
listened to on streaming music services, like Spotify. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 9, 2022 
Ms. TLAIB (for herself and Mr. BOWMAN) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress that it is the duty of 
the Federal Government to establish a new royalty pro-
gram to provide income to featured and non-featured 
performing artists whose music or audio content is lis-
tened to on streaming music services, like Spotify. 
Whereas streaming music services have become the dominant 
method of music consumption, and presently account for 
roughly 83 percent of total recorded music revenue in the 
United States; 
Whereas providers of streaming music service, like Spotify, 
saw a 13.4-percent increase in revenues in 2020, bringing 
Spotify’s streaming music service total revenue to 
$10,100,000,000; 
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Whereas musicians have created the content responsible for 
these record valuations, but are only compensated on av-
erage $0.007 per stream; 
Whereas providers of streaming music service compensate 
featured artists at a significantly lower rate than tradi-
tional physical record sales; 
Whereas non-featured artists are presently compensated for 
digital radio play but receive no compensation by pro-
viders of streaming music service for streaming plays; 
Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic has significantly disrupted 
the live concert industry, thereby reducing alternative 
sources of non-royalty income for musicians; 
Whereas, to the extent the rise of streaming music services 
has benefited musicians, it has done so in an unequal 
manner, with benefits accruing mostly to those with suffi-
cient bargaining power to negotiate with large companies 
on an individual basis; 
Whereas existing royalty and remuneration practices are in-
sufficient to address and cover new modes of consump-
tion and distribution of music, as well as properly reflect 
the value captured by streaming music services through 
data gathering and advertising sales; 
Whereas ensuring that both featured and non-featured artists 
are adequately compensated for their work strengthens 
the creative economy and creates an environment within 
the United States wherein such artists feel respected; 
Whereas the United States risks falling behind in investing 
in musicians within the United States compared to coun-
tries such as France and Canada, that have proposed 
new legislation in the past 4 years to address inequities 
in the music-streaming industry; 
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Whereas major record companies, like Universal Music Group 
and Sony Music, who license musical works to streaming 
music services simultaneously hold significant shareholder 
stakes in the underlying streaming audio service-pro-
viding companies, encouraging collusion at the expense of 
the musicians and performing artists themselves; and 
Whereas copyright collectives like SoundExchange, which ad-
minister statutory licenses and collect and distribute roy-
alties on behalf of featured and non-featured artists, and 
owners of copyrights in music recordings, are critical to 
the economic health of the music industry: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to 
establish a new statutory royalty program— 
(A) to provide musicians, whose recorded 
work is listened to on streaming music services, 
like Spotify, reasonable remuneration through a 
royalty payment earned on a per-stream basis; 
(B) to ensure streaming music services, 
which have become the dominant method of 
music consumption, compensate musicians at 
fair rates that are not significantly lower than 
rates earned on traditional physical record 
sales; 
(C) to avoid falling behind in investing in 
musicians within the United States compared to 
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other countries that have already proposed leg-
islation to address inequalities in the music in-
dustry; and 
(D) to promote an environment wherein 
the musicians within the United States feel re-
spected; and 
(2) the statutory royalty program should be— 
(A) administered by SoundExchange and 
the Copyright Royalty Board, who will together 
calculate, collect, retain, and distribute the roy-
alty payments to all eligible musicians whose re-
corded work is listened to on streaming music 
services in accordance with the standards and 
guidelines established by the scheme; and 
(B) funded by mandatory pro rata con-
tributions collected by SoundExchange from eli-
gible providers of music-streaming service, as 
defined by the program, with the option for 
SoundExchange to request additional direct 
public funding as it deems to be necessary and 
appropriate. 
Æ 
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