Too much harmony?
Many Nadler music-industry donors have biz before his House committee
Jerry Nadler is rockin’ and rollin’ in campaign cash from the music industry and other intellectual-property businesses he oversees as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, a review of recent federal records reveals.
Nadler, one of the point men pounding the drums against President Trump’s various improprieties, banked at least $65,000 from corporate music-industry political action committees, industry executives and their lobbyists and lawyers, a Daily News search of Nadler’s campaign receipts found.
He also spent more than $30,000 to hold his own Grammy Awards party — at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February.
There is nothing illegal about hauling in cash from an industry that has significant business interests before a chairman’s committee. Nor is it against the rules to party and hob-nob with those same insiders at their marquee event of the year.
But the idea of trading money for influence and access that regular Americans cannot get is increasingly not music to the ears of many Democrats and goodgovernment advocates who want their party to sing a cleaner tune.
A spokeswoman for Nadler’s campaign insisted there was nothing improper in dropping $27,250 for a suite at the Staples Center where the Grammys are awarded, $2,290 for food and drinks, $1,835 at the Beverly Hills Hilton and another $2,650 at the Sheraton Grand, all so industry execs could fill Nadler’s coffers and schmooze with him.
“Congressman Nadler’s record speaks for itself — he has a long history of taking difficult, principled stands, fighting for good government and supporting legislation in the best interest of the his constituents and country,” said a statement provided by the campaign.
Among the better-known donors listed in the latest filing are the PACs of corporate heavy weights such as Sony, BMI, Universal and Warner. There are also donations from lesser-known publishers and rights owners who represent some of the biggest acts in music history.
Executives from independent shops including Gold Village Entertainment, Abkco Music and Records, Peermusic, and Concord Bicycle Music were among donors. Abkco owns the rights to most of the Rolling Stones’ greatest albums; Gold Village has thrived in the more alternative spaces with the Hives, and the Waterboys. Concord Bicycle Music has rights to Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Miles Davis. Peermusic represents the writers of megahits like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
For the owners of rights in the music business, Nadler is seen as something of a savior. Ralph Peer II, the CEO of Peermusic, saw his $500 donation as sort of a thank you to Nadler for helping to push through last fall’s Music Modernization Act, which, among other things, streamlines payment of royalties and licensing fees by outlets such as Apple and Spotify.
Composers and rights holders have seen their income hammered because of the internet, and the MMA repairs some of the damage. “It’s been top of my list for U.S. legislation for the last 20 years,” Peer told the News.
“I thought [Nadler] deserved a vote of support, and a little contribution is an indication of that,” he said. “He’s more than interested in copyright matters . ... We appreciate that because without a copyright law there’s no work for songwriters.”
Regardless of the merits of any particular case, however, good-government groups say such practices should end.
“In a perfect world, members of Congress who serve on committees that oversee or regulate specific industries wouldn’t be able to fund-raise or accept campaign contributions from those industries,” said Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs at Common Cause.
He added that participating in the imperfect system doesn’t mean Nadler or other lawmakers are being bought off, but there’s a “perceived conflict of interest.”
“For many Americans, our corrosive fund-raising system calls into question whether members of Congress are acting in the public interest, or for some private financial interest,” he said.
While Nadler was raking in all that corporate music cash, he was also one of the key chairmen pushing for a major campaign-finance and government-reform package that passed the House earlier this year, the “For the People Act.” Scherb hailed his work on that.
Among other things, it would promote small-dollar donors by providing public matching funds at a rate of $6 for every dollar given.
Still, many other Democrats are already abandoning the corporatefinance system.
In New York, freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley by relying on small donations. Freshman Staten Island Rep. Max Rose swore off corporate donors for his campaigns, and veteran Rep. Nydia Velazquez recently did the same.