Streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music, have paid $ 424,384,787 in accrued 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 become MLC members will receive royalty payments and statements starting April, Variety reports. The MLC will also maintain a public database and ensure that registered users can submit claims.
Today’s payment to the MLC is one of the first steps outlined by the Music Modernization Act Act, which dictates that the MLC has the responsibility to distribute unparalleled royalties to rightsholders within two years. After the two-year period has passed, the MLC has the ability to distribute the remaining unmatched cash to publishers based on market share.
The highest amounts transferred from digital streaming platforms to the MLC came 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, called the payment of the MLC a “massive victory” in a statement. “Songwriters and music publishers have struggled for years to make sure they were paid correctly and in full by digital streaming services,” he said. “Money unmatched” has plagued the industry and today, thanks to the Music Modernization Act, we know it is just under $ 425 million – excluding money previously disbursed in multi-million dollar settlements. “
Michelle Lewis, songwriters to the Executive Director of North America, urged SONA members to join the MLC to see how they qualify. “This money will now be doubled and make its way to the rightful songwriters and publishers who have earned these royalties,” said Lewis. “We encourage all SONA members, along with any songwriter, to visit theMLC.com to see how they are eligible to join or participate, which is critical to ensuring that every writer who has earned this money will get a fair share of those royalties. “
Kris Ahrend, CEO of the MLC, said in a statement that the MLC has spent more than a year developing resources and organizing outreach to creators and publishers. “We have also been fortunate to receive valuable input and guidance from our board members and committee members – songwriters, publishers and digital services executives themselves – who have helped shape the MLC’s mission and scope since the introduction of the MLC. MMA, ”said Ahrend. “Today’s arrival of the license availability date marks another milestone in the process of delivering on the MMA’s promises, and the MLC team couldn’t be more excited.”
The Artist Rights Alliance has released a statement saying that the transfer of unparalleled royalties is “a good start, but there is still a lot of work to be done to get that money to the songwriters who have made it.” The ARA statement continues: