Washington Update

NMPA Names Chris Cylke Senior Vice President for Government Affairs

Christopher Cylke joined the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) recently as Senior Vice President for Government Affairs. He will serve as the NMPA’s chief liaison to Capitol Hill and federal agencies, overseeing all legislative and regulatory policy development and outreach on behalf of the music publishing and songwriting industry.

“Chris combines Hill experience with an understanding of industry issues and strong sense of Washington’s impact on business,” said David Israelite, NMPA President and CEO. “He’s a tremendous asset and we’re excited to have him join our team.” 

Cylke comes to the NMPA from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) where he served as Director of Government Affairs advocating on issues of domestic and international copyright protection, content distribution, trade, tax and privacy.

A guitar player, Chris has a self-described eclectic taste in music, listening to everything from the Beatles to a Tribe Called Quest to George Strait. Today he tends to listen to songs that emphasize the rhythm guitar — particularly if the performer is doing something innovative with it. For Chris, the measure of a good song is whether it holds up when it is performed in its simplest form: an acoustic guitar and vocals.

We sat down with Chris to learn a little more about what to expect from Capitol Hill in the coming months.

Chris Cylke	Photo by Douglas Sonders

What legislative proposals is NMPA paying
close attention to?
It is still very early in the new 113th Congress, so few bills have been officially introduced so far. At the end of 2012, however, several pieces of legislation had been introduced or circulated for comment that would either directly or indirectly impact publishers’ interests. We expect these proposals to reemerge in some form during this Congress, and NMPA is ready to actively engage on them.

The first is the so-called “Internet Radio Fairness Act,” versions of which were introduced in both the House and Senate last year. NMPA opposed that legislation in the last Congress and expects to do so again this year. The main goal of this bill is to tilt the scales against compensating copyright holders — in this case the labels — in favor of webcasters like Pandora making a profit. Obviously, this would be a horrible precedent for publishers, who are already compensated at below market rates in other contexts.

NMPA also plans to continue working with tech associations and internet companies like Apple, Amazon and Google on the Section 115 Reform Act (SIRA) — a legislative proposal that will make it easier for publishers to license mechanical reproduction rights to existing and future Internet platforms that sell digital downloads.

While I don’t foresee another push in Congress for legislation targeting online piracy, I believe that this remains an issue that many key lawmakers care deeply about. NMPA will push Congress to use its oversight authority to look at the issue and what certain players in the Internet ecosystem are — or aren’t — doing to ensure they don’t support or facilitate piracy.

Why are these proposals important to NMPA members?
It’s clear to everyone that, today, musical compositions are being exploited more than ever in an increasing variety of contexts. However, for various reasons — new technology, piracy, antiquated provisions of the law, etc. — that has not always translated into a proportional increase in revenues for songwriters and publishers. Congress plays a critical role in ensuring that — regardless of how technology changes — songwriters and publishers get a fair return on their creative works. I’m excited to join the NMPA and look forward to the opportunity to work with publishers and lawmakers to that end.