Senator Lee's Judiciary Committee Hearing Could Protect the Future of Streaming Music

Several months ago, I warned of the looming problem facing the streaming music industry if the American Society of Composers, Authors and Musicians (ASCAP) and other performing right organizations are freed from the “consent decree” issued by the Justice Department in 1941 to ensure a competitive marketplace. On the one hand, companies like Pandora, Spotify, Apple with its iRadio and Amazon.com’s Prime Music have benefitted from the shift in consumer preference to streaming music over downloading albums or music singles. On the other, these companies have had their profitability held in check by onerous royalty rates that ASCAP and others are seeking to increase as their bread and butter business continues to shift away from them toward streaming.