Screengrab via CSPAN
On Monday, the Congressional Internet Caucus Academy (CICA) hosted a panel called “In the Era of Streaming, Who’s the Bigger Music Mogul: Jay-Z or Congress?,” which discussed the ins and outs of music licensing. It was a pretty informative and substantive chat: the perfect CSPAN fodder to learn about an issue. But it was also a more exciting event than the congressional group is used to. After apologizing to the packed room for running out of sandwiches, panel hosts introduced speaker Kevin Erickson, the director of the Future of Music Coalition, to discuss the Music Modernization Act, which passed in October. And for his presentation, the dude brought actual puppets to break it all down.Erickson kicked off his presentation by saying, “Last year, as I was running around the hill working on the Music Modernization Act, I had enough staffers say: 'This is so complicated; can you explain it to me like I'm five?' So, I got some puppets…" He did a solid job summarizing the important parts of the sprawling and wide-ranging text, using puppets to represent the roles of artists, songwriters, labels, and publishers to highlight Congress’ role in licensing, royalties, and how it all gets paid out. Watch the clip below and the whole panel here.