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The 2018 Music Modernization Act rebuilt US streaming mechanicals, brought pre-1972 recordings into federal law and wrote producer royalties into the statute. It left AM/FM radio untouched, and unclaimed song money still goes out by market share. Here is what each part does for you, with worked examples and a checklist.
Artist rightsvia U.S. Copyright Office
A leaked demo, a stranger releasing your song, a fake under your name, a Content ID claim on your own video: each has a different route, and the wrong one wastes time. Here is what the US takedown law requires, how Spotify, Apple and YouTube actually take reports, and where the system leans against independent artists.
Artist rightsvia U.S. Copyright Office
Sub-Saharan Africa's recorded music revenues grew 15.2% in 2025 to $120 million, and digital income grew faster still. But South Africa takes 78.1% of that, collecting societies across the continent took in only €90 million in 2024, and nobody publishes fraud rates for African markets. For African artists the growth is real; the plumbing that turns plays into payments is not keeping up.
Industryvia IFPI
In February 2024 SoundCloud added a line to its terms letting uploads "inform, train, develop" AI. When artists noticed in May 2025, it replaced the line with a narrower promise: no training of generative models that "aim to replicate or synthesize" your voice, music or likeness without opt-in. The fix is real, but it is narrower than it sounds. Here is how to read clauses like it.
Artist rightsvia SoundCloud
The Professional Sound Alliance launched on 24 Sep 2026 to fight "Data Piracy" and "Sync Piracy" of sound effects. Two of its founding libraries already sell AI training data, so this is a campaign for licensed AI on their terms. The open question is whether the recordists behind those libraries share in it.
Artist rightsvia Professional Sound Alliance
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