“We want less government intervention we don’t want the government telling us how much your music is worth,” she said. She also stressed that the ASCAP board believes in a free market, with a willing buyer and a willing seller. “The rules are on the website,” she said. Williams closed his opening remarks by adding, “God bless ASCAP for feeding my kids and now my grandkids.”ĪSCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews followed by boosting the singularity of being an ASCAP member, pointing out it is the only PRO with publicly available royalty rules. “We always emerge with a way to license, monetize and preserve our livelihood.” “Too many times it looked like our livelihood would be decimated, but we had ASCAP on the front lines,” Williams said. He said like in the past, ASCAP would continue to represent songwriters with lawmakers, reminding them that ASCAP has consistently helped protect songwriters in the past when other new technology came online, like the advent of cable, then Napster and more recently streaming. “Without your representation, we cannot protect your copyrights so register to vote,” he added.
With artificial intelligence now very much at the forefront of conversations, he said ASCAP is on guard at Capital Hill “defending your rights” with Congress and he urged songwriters to “be engaged with ASCAP” in defending your rights.
Moreover, Williams added that while ASCAP isn’t a union, he wanted to “speak more about democracy and unity and collected strength… We are strongest when we aggregate all of our copyrights together in a blanket license.” Williams reminded the audience that ASCAP is governed by 12 creators and 12 publishers through a board elected by members that makes decisions and sets policies with “your best interest at heart. ASCAP Reports Record Collections, Distribution While Casting Shade on For-Profit Competitors