The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) says it has now enrolled more than 100 independent distributors in over 20 countries in a program to identify unpaid mechanical royalties owed on music played on streaming platforms.
The MLC describes the Distributor Unmatched Royalties Portal (DURP) as “a highly efficient and effective way to identify independent, self-administered songwriters who are not yet receiving their digital audio mechanical royalties in the United States.”
Among the distributors who have signed up are Believe, CD Baby, DistroKid, Empire, ONErpm, The Orchard, and TuneCore. The MLC says it has distributed “millions of dollars” in previously unpaid royalties have been identified and paid out so far.
The portal gives distributors access to a subset of The MLC’s publicly available data that’s relevant to songs they have distributed, enabling them to identify customers who may be entitled to back royalties. Those distributors can then notify their customers and encourage them to sign up as MLC members and register their songs. If a distributor also provides publishing admin services, the customer can elect to have their royalties collected through the distributor.
“Surpassing 100 distributor partners worldwide is a testament to the value the DURP provides to independent creators and their distributors,” said Dae Bogan, The MLC’s Head of Third-Party Partnerships, who leads the DURP initiative.
“By simplifying the process of identifying and claiming unmatched royalties, we’re helping ensure every dollar reaches its rightful owner.”
“By simplifying the process of identifying and claiming unmatched royalties, we’re helping ensure every dollar reaches its rightful owner.”
Dae Bogan, The MLC
Kris Ahrend, CEO of The MLC, added, “The DURP is a first-of-its-kind initiative that was born out of Dae’s well-known and long-held passion for serving and empowering independent music creators.
“This initiative is a great example of The MLC’s willingness to collaborate with other companies in the industry to find new and innovative ways to fulfill our mission of ensuring that songwriters and their partners receive the digital audio mechanical royalties they have earned.”
The MLC was created under the Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018 as the entity that collects mechanical royalties in the US from digital service providers (DSPs) under a new blanket license available to eligible DSPs.
Since it became fully operational in January 2021, The MLC has distributed some $2.5 billion in mechanical royalties to songwriters and publishers.
“This initiative is a great example of The MLC’s willingness to collaborate with other companies in the industry to find new and innovative ways to fulfill our mission of ensuring that songwriters and their partners receive the digital audio mechanical royalties they have earned.”
Kris Ahrend, The MLC
The MLC receives monthly reports from streaming services on the usage of recordings by those services, and attempts to match them to rights owners. Those it can’t match are added to The MLC’s unmatched recordings database.
Last year, The MLC said it had been able to match nearly 70% of the historical unmatched recordings in its remit. “Historical” refers to unmatched recordings registered by DSPs for usage before 2021.
“Navigating royalties can be incredibly confusing, especially when it involves digging back into a decade of releases.”
Austin Meade, artist and songwriter
Indie artists and songwriters offered testimonials to the usefulness of The MLC’s DURP portal, including Austin Meade, who was able to track down thousands of dollars in unpaid mechanical royalties.
“Navigating royalties can be incredibly confusing, especially when it involves digging back into a decade of releases,” he said.
“The MLC revealed a new source of income I didn’t even know existed. I’m grateful for their work in supporting artists like me.”
“As a self-published songwriter, I quickly discovered that The MLC is the key to accessing mechanical streaming royalties.”
Taura Stinson, songwriter, producer, author
Indie band Haunter was also able to track down money owed through the DURP portal, and noted that for indie artists, “navigating the complexities of music royalties can be overwhelming. Thanks to The MLC, we discovered mechanical royalties we didn’t even know we were entitled to.”
Added songwriter, producer and author Taura Stinson: “As a self-published songwriter, I quickly discovered that The MLC is the key to accessing mechanical streaming royalties. For any independent writer looking to ensure they’re collecting what they deserve, The MLC simplifies the process and provides invaluable support.”Music Business Worldwide