American Music Fairness Act

Artists may receive more equitable compensation: The bill amends the performance right to include all audio transmissions of sound recordings, which could benefit artists through increased royalty opportunities (Section 2).

Small broadcasters receive predictable, low-cost royalty rates: The bill establishes specific, fixed annual royalty fees for small terrestrial broadcast stations based on their revenue, such as $10 or $100 per year (Section 4).

Public broadcasting entities receive reduced costs: The legislation provides a specific, lower royalty rate of $100 per year for public broadcasting entities that have certain revenue levels (Section 4).

Songwriters are protected from negative changes: The act explicitly states that nothing in the bill shall adversely affect the public performance rights or royalties of songwriters (Section 6).

Increased administrative requirements for small stations: To qualify for specific lower royalty rates, individual terrestrial broadcast stations must provide a written and signed certification of their eligibility to a designated nonprofit collective by January 31 of the relevant year (Section 4).

Potential changes to royalty distribution for entities with direct licenses: The bill introduces a requirement where certain transmitting entities may pay 50 percent of their total royalties to a collective for distribution to artists (Section 5).