Music creators from all around the country got together for The Recording Academy's "GRAMMYs in My District" on Wednesday to call for music law reform.
"There's a lot of people that aren't making money off of music, and it's not because they aren't working hard, but because it isn't quite set up right now to take care of everybody in the correct way," Grammy-nominated artist Cam said at the GRAMMYs in My District gathering at the Station Inn in Nashville.
The gathering at the Station Inn was one of hundreds across the country involving thousands of music makers, including songwriters, performers, and studio professionals.
U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper, a democratic representative from Davidson County, was in attendance at the gathering in Nashville and spoke about why changes aren't being made more quickly.
"We are subject to unbelievably powerful interests in this country, and sadly, Congress is often beholden to those interests," Cooper explained, adding that laws surrounding music streaming, licensing, and copyright need to be updated to support the changing landscape of the music industry. "Some of these laws are almost 100-years-old. They couldn't have imagined the internet, they couldn't have imagined streaming, so we have to freshen things up, and Congress has been way slow doing that."
Cam performed her songs "Mayday", "Burning House", and "Runaway Train". Three songs that reflect the feelings of many music makers all across the country, but even if those music makers see the music industry as a runaway train or a burning house, and even if they're crying "mayday", they're not giving up on the industry they love, and they're hoping they can work with legislators to get music professionals paid fairly for their work.
"It's our job to make sure that we're speaking to them (politicians), because it's their job to listen," Cam said.
Those at the gathering were encouraged to work with their lawmakers on impacting change, and encouraged to ask those they know to reach out to their lawmakers to demand change, as well.
For more information on The Recording Academy's advocacy and public policy work, you can visit their website.
