Bernie Sanders’ Messages From 2025 Echo Everywhere in The Music Industry
Bernie Sanders’ oligarchy awareness reminiscent of Melanie’s battle against ASCAP’s fraud.
Blog entry written on 21 July, 2025, by Corinne Devin Sullivan, at the Archive Coffee & Bar located at102 Liberty Street NE, in Salem, Oregon.
Photography at the Archive Coffee & Bar by Corinne Devin Sullivan.
An amazing songwriter named Melanie performed on Friday night of the 1969 Woodstock arts and music festival. Skip ahead to recent times. I think it was 2022 when I mailed off Cease and Desist letters to ASCAP that were notarized on Melanie’s signature. I drove Melanie to UPS and paid for the certified mail, as well as the notarization fees. She was very happy that day. It was like watching a little kid who was finally on her way to Disneyland!
Melanie demanded in her letters that ASCAP stop falsely sending away her clients to those companies they do business with—namely, BMG and Sony. She denied ever, ever, ever selling her music rights.
Before Melanie passed away in January of 2024, she helped me gather documents on her behalf. I had this information assembled into packets. They were all sent out to government officials in seven states. I did this a few times on her behalf.
Both Melanie and I believed she was going to be the poster child for bringing human rights protections to the music industry for the very first time in history.
I hear the “screaming need” to revert the dangerous trend against America everywhere. It’s been happening for more than a century by ripping off artists in the music industry. Incredible, I know! This is really happening.
The music industry has been far too undercut by corporations inflicting life-costing abuses against the lives artists. Stealing the livelihood of anyone is enough to end their lives.
The music industry has been imbalanced on the side of the oligarchy for more than 100 years. It cannot regenerate itself, economically, the way it currently exists without outside help so why put up with it?
With the first graphophone sound machines and phonograph cylinders being sold in the 1880’s, so much money became possible through music sales. Federal laws are yet still needed to protect the lives of artists in music from being taken advantage of.
Miley Cyrus is my favorite example. I see her as a very lively, engaging person. She cannot change herself. She will always be bubbly. She is always so excited when she talks about her life. She voices how she loves “going along for the ride” with the biggest acts and doing their numbers with them. I’ve also seen Miley showering them with sunshine and praises in her social media if she performs their work.
I’m gushing, I know it. Thing is, Miley Cyrus is one in a billion who has inspired the whole world her entire life by naturally being herself.
But being too cute for words in youth wasn’t the right road to take for her, it seemed, because now, in 2025, she’s the walking example of a human rights campaign. She was, in truth, exploited by terrible writers in her youth. She was mocked. She was trailed. Her love life was used by tabloids just to sell them instead of concentrating on any true art by Miley. Recently, Miley released her album, “Something Beautiful” and I cried watching the movie that went along with the album knowing that this was the first time in decades that I felt like I was watching her. It takes a huge amount of personal sacrifice and perseverance, not to mention talent and skill, to get to the point Miley is now at. I don’t believe the American music industry should be so risky or so demoralizing. And it won’t be if criminally-inclined people are forced to deal with laws that protect artists’ lives.
Bernie Sanders had just left on a tour of the United States when I arrived to Washington D.C. in April of this year. I drove my car across the United States. While I traveled, I promoted my book, Twenty-Seven: The Human Right The Music Industry Forgot”. When I was in Washington, I wanted to speak to as many people as possible about ending the horrible Music Modernization Act from 2018.
I was so disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to talk with Bernie Sanders. After Washington D.C., I got caught up watching his content over the next month or two. I feel real respect for Bernie Sanders. He should never be mocked. It’s not easy to do what he’s attempting.
The forces of evil are very well-financed. The good people in music have never gotten a toehold yet. This is a time to stay very honest to America’s original founding documents. It’s time to make the extra effort to protect people in your local music community and big artists who you follow.
Could it be that protecting the rights of the American Songwriter to own and control their artistic products without interference is the most idealistic starting point to change things everywhere in America?
