The MUSIC MODERNIZATION ACT has been signed, sealed and delivered and goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The sweeping bill makes several major changes to the way digital royalties are tracked, valued and paid; most notably, it creates a new agency, run by songwriters and publishers, to oversee digital mechanical licensing. "A great day and a new era for the music industry," in the words of ASCAP CEO ELIZABETH MATTHEWS. "The most comprehensive legislation in music history," per lyricist, podcaster and activist ROSS GOLAN. "Every professional songwriter in America who has suffered devastating economic losses in the era of digital music delivery can now breathe a sigh of relief," said STEVE BOGARD, president of NASHVILLE SONGWRITER ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL. Engineers and producers will benefit, too, as will streaming music services, who for the first time can secure blanket mechanical licenses. The legislation, which brought together three separate bills, was the result of years of dealmaking, compromise, lobbying and sweat—and a little last-minute scrambling. And now, in some ways, the even harder work begins. The legislation calls for the creation, from scratch, of a new licensing agency. How it's formed "and which private companies emerge as partners will be of immense interest in the music industry," the TENNESSEAN's NATE RAU writes, with a patina of understatement. It also means building a comprehensive database of songs and recordings, "an ambitious undertaking that has yet to be successfully completed in past industry attempts," as BILLBOARD's ED CHRISTMAN notes. The lobbying effort, presumably, now turns from Washington to Los Angeles, Nashville, New York and Silicon Valley. But today is a day for champagne and celebration. And while there is reorganizing ahead, it's worth appreciating the organizing that's already been done. "We are no longer the exploited sleeping giant," Golan said of his fellow songwriters and artists. "We are here and we are organized. We were told uniting songwriters is like herding cats. Well we did and now we are a pride of lions"... Absent from the WHITE HOUSE signing ceremony for the Music Modernization Act were any major pop stars and many of the music industry figures who spilled their blood to get the law passed. BILLBOARD reports on several last-minute disinvitations... This upcoming scripted series on HULU ain't nuthing ta f*** wit... LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM sues his former FLEETWOOD MAC bandmates. We look forward to a settlement that requires them to reunite and record an album about it... FYRE FESTIVAL organizer BILLY MCFARLAND gets six years in federal prison... There's a marimba-playing robot named SHIMON who has learned how to improvise with a live band and is totally not terrible (but who has not yet been asked to join Fleetwood Mac)... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from ELLA MAI, QUAVO, ST. VINCENT, USHER (surprise!), KURT VILE, ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS, AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE, BELLY, COLTER WALL, TOM MORELLO, RÜFÜS DU SOL, WILLIAM BASINSKI & LAWRENCE ENGLISH, JAAKKO EINO KALEVI, YOUNG THE GIANT, TRIPPIE REDD, SHY GLIZZY, BLACK EYED PEAS, MATTHEW DEAR, ADAM HOOD, YOUNG BUCK, EDIE BRICKELL & NEW BOHEMIANS, JIMMIE ALLEN, JESS GLYNNE, JUSTIN COURTNEY PIERRE, BERES HAMMOND, JOHN GRANT, JOHN HIATT, SARAH BORGES, PRIMAL SCREAM, the WATSON TWINS, MORGAN EVANS, CALVIN JOHNSON, the DODOS, LINDSAY BEAVER and the BOTTLE ROCKETS. Also, jingle my bells, Christmas albums are starting to coming out, like a lot of them, but basketball season hasn't even begun so all you need to know for now, maybe, is that ERIC CLAPTON pays tribute to AVICII on his... RIP RANDALL CLAY.