Music Industry on Capitol Hill: Tracking Key Legislation in Congress

The music industry is keenly observing several pending bills before the 119th Congress. These federal legislative efforts have the potential to reshape various facets of the business, spanning songwriting, licensing, tourism, royalties, ticketing, and live performances.

Many of these bills enjoy bipartisan backing from both Democrats and Republicans. Industry stakeholders, including The Recording Academy, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), major record labels, and Live Nation, are actively advocating for their enactment.

The legislative journey is often lengthy and complex. Bills are frequently reintroduced over multiple years, sometimes with differing versions in the Senate and House of Representatives. They undergo committee reviews, hearings, and revisions before reaching the floor for a congressional vote and, if successful, the President's desk for final approval.

Billboard has compiled a list of music-related legislation currently before the 119th Congress. This list will be updated as bills progress through the House and Senate, with new bills added as they are introduced.

RAP Act

First introduced in 2022, the Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act seeks to limit the use of rap lyrics in federal prosecutions. Citing lyrics as evidence has long been controversial, particularly in cases against prominent rappers like Young Thug, Gunna, and Lil Durk.

The RAP Act was reintroduced in 2023 and again in the House in July 2025, subsequently referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Co-sponsored by Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), the RAP Act garners substantial support from within the music industry. The Recording Academy, RIAA, Warner Music Group (WMG), Universal Music Group (UMG), and Live Nation have all voiced their support.

NO FAKES Act

The Nurture Originals, Foster Art and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act represents Congress's effort to shield artists from artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes. This legislation would establish a person's digital likeness as a form of intellectual property, enabling artists to license these rights and pursue legal action against unauthorized deepfake publications.

The NO FAKES Act was initially introduced in 2024 and revamped in April 2025. The updated version includes notice and takedown provisions to potentially shield hosting platforms from liability. Tech giants like YouTube are now supporters. It has been referred to both chambers’ Judiciary Committees.

Major music industry players such as the Recording Academy, RIAA, WMG, UMG, and Sony support NO FAKES. The bills are sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); and in the House by Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.) Nathaniel Moran (R-Tex.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.) and Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.).

American Music Tourism Act

The American Music Tourism Act, first introduced in 2024 and reintroduced in January 2025, aims to stimulate music-related travel and tourism in the U.S. by tasking the Department of Commerce with devising a plan to promote sites like Graceland and the Grammy Museum.

Versions passed the House in April 2025 and the Senate in May 2025. The two chambers must now reconcile their versions before sending the bill to President Donald Trump for his signature.

The bills were introduced in the Senate by Blackburn and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and in the House by Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) and Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.). It’s supported by industry organizations like the Recording Academy, RIAA and National Music Publishers association (NMPA), plus famed music sites the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.

American Music Fairness Act

Legislators and music industry figures have been trying for decades to enact a law mandating terrestrial radio stations to pay performance royalties to artists and record labels. The latest iteration, the American Music Fairness Act, was introduced in 2021 and has been reintroduced twice since.

Most recently brought back to both the House and Senate in January 2025, the bills aim to close a loophole that allows AM/FM radio stations in the U.S. to only pay publishing royalties – unlike satellite radio stations and online streamers, which have to compensate both songwriters and performers when they plan a track. The bills have been referred to both chambers’ Judiciary Committees.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s intellectual property subcommittee held a hearing in December 2025, during which KISS rocker Gene Simmons testified that it’s “un-American” not to support the legislation.

The American Music Fairness act is co-sponsored in the Senate by Blackburn, Tillis and Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and in the House by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). It’s supported by the Recording Academy, RIAA, SoundExchange and the American Federation of Musicians.

MAIN Event Ticketing Act

The Mitigating Automated Internet Networks (MAIN) for Event Ticketing Act, initially introduced in 2023, seeks to strengthen enforcement of President Obama’s Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act.

This legislation would establish new reporting and security mandates for online ticket sellers to combat automated bots. Bills were reintroduced in the Senate in January 2025 and the House in April 2025. The proposed legislation has been approved by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation – meaning it now heads to the Senate floor – and it’s under consideration by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The bills are sponsored in the Senate by Blackburn and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and in the House by Harshbarger and Rep. Troy A. Carter Sr. (D-La.). They’ve garnered support from the Recording Academy, RIAA, Live Nation and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).

TICKET Act

The Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act, first introduced in 2023, aims to reform the ticket-buying process for concertgoers. The proposed legislation would increase pricing transparency by requiring event promoters to clearly and prominently display a ticket’s full price, including fees and taxes, before checkout.

The legislation passed the House in 2024 but died at the end of the 118th congressional term. Versions were reintroduced in the Senate in January 2025 and the House in February 2025, and it passed the House again in April 2025. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved its bill the same month, and it’s now headed to the Senate floor.

The bills were introduced in the Senate by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and in the House by Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.). Supporters include the Recording Academy, Live Nation, Vivid Seats and StubHub.

Protecting Outdoor Concerts Act

First introduced in 2021 and reintroduced twice since, the Protecting Outdoor Concerts Act would create an avenue for the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict the airspace around outdoor music festivals and concerts.

Currently, major sporting events can apply for these low-flying plane restrictions, but music event organizers cannot. The bill was most recently introduced to the House in April 2025 by Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) and it’s been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Ruiz, whose district includes California’s Coachella Valley, has cited safety risks from airplanes flying too low around the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals. The proposed legislation has support from AEG, which puts on both of those festivals.

TRAIN Act

The Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act, first introduced in the Senate in 2024, would create a legal avenue for musicians and other creators to find out if their work was used to train a generative AI model without a license. Technically speaking, the bill would allow artists to subpoena AI developers for their training data through a process similar to one that already exists to combat internet piracy.

It remains an open question whether AI companies are legally required to buy licenses to train their models on existing creative works. Numerous copyright lawsuits over this issue are currently making their way through the courts, including one by the major record labels (though some claims have been settled through licensing deals with AI music services Suno and Udio).

The TRAIN Act was reintroduced in the Senate in July 2025 by Blackburn and Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and introduced for the first time in the House in January 2026 by Dean and Moran. The bill, which is endorsed by the RIAA and the Recording Academy, has been referred to both chambers’ Judiciary Committees.

CLEAR Act

Another AI training-focused bill is the Copyright Labeling and Ethical AI Reporting (CLEAR) Act, which would require tech companies to submit publicly available reports to the U.S. Copyright Office detailing all the protected works used in training data for generative AI models. The legislation also suggests an enforcement mechanism: civil fines for AI companies that fail to complete these disclosures.

Schiff first proposed this legislation, originally titled the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act, during his time in the House of Representatives in 2024. That first bill died without action. Schiff then teamed up with Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) to reintroduce the proposal, renamed the CLEAR Act, in February 2026.

The bill has garnered support from numerous music industry groups, including the RIAA, the Recording Academy, the NMPA and SoundExchange.

---

Related Articles

• Wixen Music Publishing Sues Meta, Alleging AI Music Royalty Cuts and Retaliation
• Warner Music Group's Big Plans: Catalog Acquisitions, AI Integration, and a Star-Studded Release Schedule
• Chris Brown Hit With Lawsuit Over Alleged Unpaid Royalties for 'Monalisa' and 'Sensational'

---

Related Articles

• Chris Brown Sued Over "Monalisa" and "Sensational" Songwriting Credits