Getting 150 companies to agree on a system would be hard, but the conflicting interests of record companies and hardware manufacturers make it almost impossible.
"We believe the termination right doesn't apply to most sound recordings," said Steven Marks, general counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America, a lobbying group in Washington that represents the interests of record labels.
With years of costly litigation looming, groups that represent the interests of recording artists and songwriters said they found Mr. Conyers's remarks encouraging.
Hilary Rosen, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the interests of recording companies, cautioned that lowering the price of CD's would not solve the industry's problems and that it would serve only to reduce revenue even further.
"Together, Facebook and UMG are creating a dynamic new model for collaboration between music companies and social platforms to advance the interests of recording artists and songwriters while enhancing the social experience of music for their fans," added Michael Nash, Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy, Universal Music Group.
Fishbone became a favorite of punk audiences and attracted the interest of record labels like Columbia, which signed the group and released its debut EP in 1985.
It seems clear that the authentic-music phenomenon and an emphasis on pre-Romantic music continue to capture the interest of record companies, which presumably see a new pot of gold awaiting them.
"It's in the best interest of record labels to have contenders for Billboard's SOTS because making it on the list is a free advertisement," says John Covach, director of the Institute of Popular Music at the University of Rochester.
Cliff Burnstein, one of Metallica's managers, said the band decided it needed to join the fight to make it clear that the dispute is not just about the interests of the record companies, but about the bands themselves.
