This month, we are excited to announce that April’s distribution included the first set of matched Phono 3 historical royalties. We were able to distribute roughly $40 million in matched historical royalties in addition to $66 million in blanket royalties — making this our first distribution over $100 million. We look forward to continuing to distribute more Phono 3 historical royalties in the coming months.

In this newsletter, we provide additional details about this month’s distribution (both blanket and historical), share information about recent DSP terminations, offer a promo code you can use to receive a discount on the price of a ticket to join other creators at the upcoming Music Biz Roadshow in Nashville, and share information about upcoming industry events. We hope to see you in person soon!

The MLC completed its fourth royalty distribution of the year on April 15, bringing us to 37 total royalty distributions since we began full operations — all of which were on time or early. April’s distribution primarily covered newly reported usage that took place in January of 2024. The total of all royalty pools reported to The MLC for this cycle was approximately $93.8 million.

Every month our team attempts to match the newly reported sound recording uses we receive to the musical works data in our public database and then distributes the resulting matched royalties to our Members. This month, we were able to match more than 84 percent of the total royalty pools reported to us by DSPs to songs registered in our database.

After deducting royalties for usage covered by voluntary licenses maintained by DSPs with rightsholders, we collected approximately $90.0 million in royalties and distributed approximately $66.0 million to our Members.

To learn more about our April 2024 distribution, click here:

This week, we distributed the first set of matched Phono 3 historical royalties covering usage from 2018, 2019 and 2020. These royalties pertain to uses during those three years that took place on five digital services: Apple Music, SoundCloud, hoopla, Pacemaker and Recisio. We distributed roughly $40.6 million, plus interest, in matched Phono 3 historical royalties. These royalties cover usage for which these five DSPs previously had not distributed any royalties. (We refer to these types of uses as “previously unpaid uses.”)

We also continued to distribute matched historical royalties for uses that took place between 2007 and 2017 (during the Phono 1 and 2 rate periods). As a result of reprocessing the remaining unmatched historical royalties that we began processing last year, we were able to distribute approximately $80k in historical royalties this month, plus interest, from a number of different digital services.

To read more about the historical unmatched royalties we have distributed so far, click here:

The blanket licenses for three DSPs, Checkthevolume.com, Cypher and Monytize, were terminated effective April 6, 2024 due to their failure to comply with certain statutory obligations. The blanket license was terminated because each DSP did not comply with certain statutory obligations, despite receiving formal notice of default from The MLC and having the benefit of the two-month cure period set forth in the MMA. A copy of the Notice of Blanket License Termination for each DSP is archived in The MLC’s searchable index of DSP Notices, available here.

What does this mean for you? These three DSPs can no longer rely on the blanket license for the rights to make and distribute digital copies of your songs. Instead, they will have to license your songs from you and pay you mechanical royalties directly. You will not receive royalty payments from The MLC for any uses of your songs by these services after the date of termination. However, you may still receive royalties from The MLC for uses that took place prior to termination, to the extent that we are able to make any new matches of these prior uses as a result of reprocessing.

Are you planning to attend the Music Biz Conference this year? The MLC team will be there, speaking on several panels and spreading the word about The MLC.

This year, Music Biz is once again holding its Roadshow during the week of the conference. This full-day program will explore the best ways for new artists to find & maintain success, tap into every possible revenue stream for both new releases & catalog music, and manage their integrity & mental health in tandem with their career!

Use the promo code RS24MLC for a discounted ticket rate of $49. We hope to see you there!

May 1-5: Key West Songwriters Festival

May 1-4: International Christian Film & Music Festival

May 13-16: Music Biz 2024

May 30-June 1: Hawai'i Songwriting Festival

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