State Representative Matt Dollar (R-Marietta) introduced House Bill 196, legislation that would promote the growth of Georgia’s music industry. The legislation would provide for state tax exemptions on royalty income for musicians in order to retain local talent and attract new talent to Georgia.

“Georgia’s music industry is richly diverse, which greatly contributes to the industry’s more than $3 billion economic impact each year on our state,” said Rep. Dollar. “This legislation is important to retain more of Georgia’s obvious musical talents and recruit new talent to our state. The industry grows where the talent is. The music bill will help create a wide variety of jobs in the industry and has great economic development potential for Georgia, similar to the success we have seen in the film and television industry in the state. I look forward to welcoming many of our state’s talented musicians and industry leaders to the Capitol tomorrow for Georgia Music Day.”

This legislation is designed to not only retain and attract talent, but to also allow Georgia to compete with other states, like Tennessee, that have tax incentives or low state income taxes already in place.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 1, 2017 is Georgia Music Day at the State Capitol. Georgia Music Day brings together and celebrates Georgia’s entire music industry and recognizes this industry at the capitol. The event will feature multi-Gospel Music Association Dove Award (25 awards) and GRAMMY Award (4 awards) winning Artist Mac Powell (Third Day), who will sing a few songs, as well as GRAMMY Music Educator of The Year Award Finalist, Nicole Thompson and her Taylor Middle School Orchestra. There will be special guest speakers and a “who’s who” of Georgia musical talent in the State Capitol Rotunda at 12:00 p.m.

This summer, Rep. Dollar co-chaired the Joint Music Economic Development Study Committee, created during the 2016 legislative session by Senate Resolution 1027. The committee studied the economic impact of the music industry in Georgia and ways to measure, expand, and promote the music economy statewide and foster integration with other creative industries including film, digital media and gaming.