More than a dozen U.S. music industry organisations have appealed to the federal government for help in opposing a European Union proposal that could eliminate close to $300 million in annual royalties for American artists and labels. In a letter sent on Wednesday 8 July to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, groups including the Recording Academy, SoundExchange, A2IM, ASCAP and BMI urged him to stop the EU from altering its rules on recorded royalties for terrestrial radio plays and public performances in commercial venues. They characterised the move as a "dramatic policy reversal" that would "codify discrimination against American creators into EU law".

The dispute centres on a 2020 court ruling that required EU member states to pay public performance royalties to all sound recording rightsholders regardless of nationality, replacing an earlier principle of "material reciprocity" that excluded Americans because U.S. law provides no public performance royalty for recorded music (aside from digital streams). In May the European Commission said it was considering legislation to reinstate material reciprocity to keep the European market competitive and prevent royalties flowing away from European producers. Warner Music Group has also opposed the change, warning it would harm the European industry, while European rightsholder groups such as IMPALA back it, arguing that without action more than €125 million per year — some €1.25 billion over a decade — would flow out of Europe to the U.S.