FLORIDA REP. TED DEUTCH
U.S. REP. TED DEUTCH has played piano most of his life, and a Bruce Springsteen song, “Land of Hope and Dreams,” helped inspire his first run for office — a Florida state senate race in 2006. But as much as he loved music, he didn’t understand how complicated music-business legislation could be until he learned the laws were inspired by the advent of player pianos over 100 years ago — the term “mechanical royalties” comes from the mechanics of the instrument.
“That’s when I knew that there was a lot of work to be done. And I’ve spent a lot of time learning about copyright and boning up on the really challenging aspects of it,” says Deutch, a Florida Democrat and one of this year’s Grammys on the Hill honorees.
But despite the details, Deutch says the many musicrelated bills he sponsors in Congress are fundamentally simple and easy to explain to his colleagues, and the public, on a visceral level.
Save Our Stages, which Deutch co-sponsored, helped concert venues with funding to survive the pandemic after it passed in late 2020; the Protect Working Musicians Act, which Deutch introduced last October, would let musicians unite to negotiate better rates on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. And the American Music Fairness Act, which Deutch co-introduced in the House last June, would require terrestrial radio stations to pay performers whenever they air songs, despite fierce opposition from the National Association of Broadcasters and other radio groups. They all have one thing in common.
“It’s really not that complicated,” Deutch says. “We ought to be asking the fundamental question, ‘At a time of radically changing technology, do we have a system that fairly compensates creators?’ That’s what we really need to focus on.”