Streaming Services pays $ 424 million in unmatched royalties to mechanical licensing collectives

Streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music, paid $ 424,384,787 in historically unparalleled royalties (or ‘black box’ money) to the Mechanical Licensing Collective, the MLC announced Tuesday. Once the MLC analyzes the data to pay copyright holders, songwriters and publishers who have applied to receive MLC members will already pay royalties and statements in April. Variety reports. The MLC will also maintain a public database and make it so that registered users can submit claims.

Today’s payment to the MLC is one of the first steps set out by the Modernization of Music Act, which stipulates that the MLC has the responsibility to distribute unparalleled royalties to rights holders within two years. After the two-year period has expired, the MLC has the option to distribute the remaining unmatched money to publishers based on market share.

The highest amounts transferred from digital streaming platforms to the MLC come from Apple Music (over $ 163 million), Spotify (over $ 152 million), Amazon (over $ 42 million) and Google / YouTube (over $ 32 million).

President / CEO of the National Music Publishers Association, David Israelite, calls the payment of the MLC a ‘massive victory’ in a statement. “Songwriters and music publishers have been fighting for years to ensure that they are paid accurately and fully through digital streaming services,” he said. ” Unmatched money ‘has plagued the industry and today, thanks to the Modernization of Music Act, we know it costs just under $ 425 million – not money previously paid out in multiple settlements. “

Michelle Lewis, executive director of North American songwriters, urged SONA members to become members of the MLC to learn how to qualify. “This money will now match and find their way to the legitimate songwriters and publishers who have earned these royalties,” Lewis said. “We encourage all SONA members, along with every songwriter, to visit theMLC.com to find out how they are eligible to participate or participate, which is critical to ensuring that every songwriter whoever earns this money gets his fair share of these royalties. “

MLC CEO Kris Ahrend said in a statement that the MLC has spent more than a year developing resources and reaching out to creators and publishers. “We were also fortunate to receive valuable input and guidance from our members of the Board and the committee – songwriters, publishers and managers of digital services – who have helped shape the mission and scope of the MLC since the MMA passed, said Ahrend. “The arrival of the license availability date is another milestone in the process of making the MMA’s promises come true, and the MLC team can no longer be excited.”

The Artist Rights Alliance has issued a statement saying the transfer of unmatched royalties is a “good start – but there is still a lot of work to be done to earn the money for the songwriters who have earned it.” The ARA statement continues:

We are grateful to the Copyright Office team who worked skillfully and hard-working during the months before the transfer, including major differences of opinion regarding the proper treatment of settlements in the previous industry.

In the coming months, we look forward to further discussions with the office about the efforts of publishers already paid for historical uses through settlement agreements to obtain double payment from these new funds. As we said in the previous documentation to the office, the largest publishers who have already agreed with digital services and received payment from them may not be allowed to use a further part of the money transferred to The MLC today. do not claim.

Today’s news is a major step forward for songwriters – one made possible by so many stakeholders across the music community who have come together to advocate for the modernization of music law and to work in good faith while it is being implemented.