Happy New Year! This month marks the beginning of our sixth year of full operations. Since we began operations in 2021, we have enrolled more than 76,000 Members, compiled data for more than 52 million musical works, and achieved over $3.5 billion in total royalties distributed. We could not have accomplished any of these milestones without your ongoing collaboration, engagement, and support.

In this newsletter, we highlight key metrics from January’s royalty distribution. We also share an important update regarding the market share distribution process as prescribed by the Music Modernization Act. Finally, we’re excited to tell you about new episodes of our podcast, Taking Care of Your Music Business.

Thank you for taking the time to read our updates each month. We look forward to serving you in the year ahead.

The MLC completed its first royalty distribution of the year on January 14. January’s distribution primarily covered newly reported usage that took place in October 2025. The total of all royalty pools reported to The MLC for this cycle was approximately $84.6 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 over 84 percent of the total royalty pools reported to us by DSPs for their October 2025 usage to songs registered in our database.

After deducting $1.8 million in royalties for usage covered by voluntary licenses maintained by DSPs with rightsholders, we collected approximately $82.8 million in royalties and distributed approximately $62.3 million to our Members. To learn more about our January 2026 distribution, click here:

We continue to process adjustments for 2023 delivered to us by certain DSPs in connection with their Annual Reports of Usage (ARoU). In the January distribution, we processed blanket royalty adjustments for Spotify’s February to June 2023 usage that reflected an underpayment of $3k.

We had hoped to process all of the adjustments reported by Spotify for their 2023 usage this month. However, we were unable to process Spotify's January 2023 adjustments due to complexities in the data; we hope to be able to process these adjustments later this spring. Next month, we hope to process Spotify's remaining adjustments for 2023, for usage from July to December 2023.

The January distribution also included reprocessing adjustments for 2021, 2022, and 2023 in the amount of $388k.

To the extent any of these adjustments pertained to works in your catalog, you will see them identified on your statement by the category type ["Adjustments"], along with the names of the specific DSP for which the adjustment was made.

Here is a tentative schedule showing when we are planning to process the remaining adjustments for 2021, 2022, and 2023.

For a clear, up-to-date view of blanket mechanical royalties reported to us by DSPs that operate under the blanket license we administer — including breakdowns of amounts collected, matched, distributed, and more — check out our Blanket Royalties Dashboard here.

Update on DSPs Operating Under the Blanket License

The blanket license The MLC administers is available to eligible DSPs in the U.S., and today, more than 50 DSPs operate under it. New DSPs may choose to obtain the blanket license, while existing licensees may stop operating under it, either through a voluntary withdrawal or through termination if a DSP fails to comply with the terms of the license.

The following DSPs have withdrawn from the blanket license:

• Classical Singer withdrew from the blanket license as of December 15, 2025.

• IK Multimedia withdrew from the blanket license as of January 1, 2026.

You can find more information by searching for each DSP’s Notice of License here.

Since April 2024, we have been distributing matched historical royalties for usage that took place during the Phono 3 rate period in sets. For each set of royalties from a given DSP (or DSPs), we first distribute matched historical royalties for previously unpaid uses reported by the DSP(s) concerned, then we aim to distribute matched historical royalties for previously partially paid uses from the same DSP(s) the following month. This month, we distributed the second set of Phono 3 historical royalties from iHeart in the amount of $233k, plus $11k of Phono 2 royalties due to reprocessing.

Overall, The MLC has been able to match and distribute over $229 million — nearly 58 percent — of the $397 million in previously unmatched historical royalties that DSPs transferred to us in 2021. To read more about the historical royalties we have distributed so far, click here:

The MLC has started developing the congressionally mandated process for distributing remaining unmatched and unclaimed blanket royalties, with the intent of beginning those distributions in early 2027. We plan to distribute one month of remaining blanket royalties each month, starting with the remaining royalties from January 2021 (the first month that DSPs reported royalties to The MLC according to the blanket license we administer). We will allocate the remaining royalties on a pro rata basis for each DSP and offering, using The MLC’s actual distribution data, and then distribute those royalties with interest calculated at the statutory rate. Every song that earned monthly royalties (whether initially or via reprocessing) will receive its pro rata share of the remaining royalties for that month.

To learn more about the market share distribution process and our current plans, click here: 

New episodes of our podcast, Taking Care of Your Music Business, are now available! Join us to hear all new conversations with industry insiders that will help you make the most of your music career. Listen here or watch on our YouTube channel — be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

© 2026 Mechanical Licensing Collective. All rights reserved.