THE HITS ACT WILL HELP CREATORS (BUT DEDUCT POINTS FOR THE NAME)

The Recording Academy has voiced its support for a bipartisan bill that enables independent music makers to deduct up to $150k in recording-related costs per year from their taxes during the pandemic. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the proposed legislation is called the HITS Act, meaning it will be forever associated with a disreputable industry trade rag.

The shortened name of the bill, introduced by Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas), is a backronym for “Help Independent Tracks Succeed.” The Academy and other backers believe that it will provide substantial relief to indie creators during the COVID-19 downturn.

"The Recording Academy is proud to have worked alongside Reps. Sánchez and Estes to develop the key provisions in the HITS Act," said Academy Chair and Interim Prez/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. "The HITS Act will make a meaningful impact and help ease the financial burden for thousands of independent creators getting back on track, eager to share their creativity with the world. It will inspire new music and create opportunities for many of the vulnerable professionals in our community to persevere during these uncertain times. I just wish it could be called, I don’t know, anything else."

Expenses can include studio time, gear musicians’ fees, utilities and more. Currently, music peeps have to amortize recording costs over “the economic life” of a recording, typically a 3-4-year period. It’s believed that enabling the deduction in a single year will make a tremendous difference in creators’ economic lives. We hope you’ll reach out to your rep to voice your support. Probably best not to mention us, though.

In other tax-related news, a HITS editor once again attempted to deduct a bong this year.