The Heterogeneous Effects of the Music Modernization Act and Co-Occurring Federal Regulation on the Release of New Music in the United States

Abstract

I examined the impact of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) and a co-occurring regulation on the release activity by composers and musical performers. The analysis uses a negative binomial count model with artist fixed effects to identify incremental release activity. Demographic and music copyright covariates were included to identify heterogeneity. While not impacting release activity overall, I identified increased release activity among composers (increasing with composer credits) as well as younger and female performers. These findings are observed in two instances: (1) during the post-period after the MMA was enacted and (2) during the negotiation period while the MMA was written and debated. Additionally, while there has been a significant increase in the release of singles, this phenomenon appears to be driven by the growth of music streaming. This work identifies the extent to which this new law and federal regulation have encouraged recording artists to increase their release activity.