CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

CHAPTER 192

Statutes of 2025

Introduced by Assembly Member McKinnor

July 7, 2025

Relative to the music industry in California.

Fiscal committee: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

This measure would recognize the contributions of the music industry to the economic and cultural well-being of the state, its population, and its overall reputation as a worldwide leader in artistic and creative freedom.

WHEREAS, Music plays an outsized role in American culture and is unique among art forms in being so widely enjoyed and shared, creating connections between people across geography and even time; and

WHEREAS, Music has a significant, broad, and growing impact on the California economy; and

WHEREAS, California has been a long-time anchor for the arts and entertainment industries and has fostered a vibrant music community that continues to reflect the diversity of America’s landscape and enrich the lives of fans all around the world; and

WHEREAS, Its unparalleled music history has breathed life into entire music movements, including early surf rock icons, the Monterey International Pop festival, the psychedelic rock revolution of the 1960s, the country-folk-rock “Laurel Canyon” sound of the 1970s, the new wave and punk movements of the 1980s, and West Coast hip-hop. California is also one of the world’s foremost centers of regional Mexican music, including norteño and banda, and is home to historic musicians like The Kingston Trio, The Beach Boys, Ritchie Valens, Cher, the Grateful Dead, Santana, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Tupac Shakur, Green Day, X, Los Lobos, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dr. Dre, Billie Eilish, Los Tigres del Norte, and Kendrick Lamar, to name a few; and

WHEREAS, California is home to some of the most iconic live music venues in the country, among them The Fillmore in San Francisco and the Troubadour in Hollywood; and

WHEREAS, The music industry occupies an important place as a driver of California’s economic prosperity and growth; and

WHEREAS, A recent industrywide “50 States of Music” report showed California is the top state in the nation for measures of music industry earnings, employment, and value-added businesses that support artists and companies; and

WHEREAS, Music contributes $51,000,000,000 to California’s economy and supports over 460,000 jobs and over 80,000 music establishments in our state; and

WHEREAS, Music supports local businesses all across the state, including “a remarkable surge in business activity” from annual festivals, including $600 million from the world-renowned Coachella and Stagecoach festivals alone, which, according to Palm Springs local news, provides a “vital” boost “for many small businesses” in the area; and

WHEREAS, Nationally, employment supported by the U.S. music industry also increased substantially during the period 2017 to 2020, exceeding a 17 percent increase in jobs; and

WHEREAS, The music community industry has been able to remain vibrant, relevant, and reinvent itself to embrace new technologies and meet consumer desires and needs in an increasingly digitalized world; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes the contributions of the music industry to the economic and cultural well-being of the state, its population, and its overall reputation as a worldwide leader in artistic and creative freedom; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.