The Songwriters Hall announced the list of nominees for the 2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame, including Max Martin, Madonna, and Jay Z. If inducted, Jay Z would become the first rapper to enter the prestigious music organization.
Five songwriters or songwriting groups will be officially inducted at a gala in New York in June of 2017. Other performing nominees include Cat Stevens, Sly Stone, Chicago, and Gloria Estefan.
The Recording Academy’s third-annual Grammy’s in My District event brought over 2,000 creators to 315 Congressional district offices. Musicians and artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, and Terence Blanchard are leading the charge to attend meetings at the offices of local elected officials to air their concerns and issues directly into lawmakers’ ears. Daryl Friedman, the Academy’s chief industry, government, and member relations officer, said, “you have Congress in the process of a six-year copyright review where they’re looking at all aspects of the Copyright Act, and they’re coming up on the final two years of that review. That sets the stage now for action.”
A U.S. appeals court ruled that the record companies and music publishers of the former EMI Group can pursue additional copyright infringement claims against MP3tunes. The now defunct online music storage firm’s founder Michael Robertson was ordered to pay $12.2 million after a federal jury found him liable for copyright infringement in 2014. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected his appeal.