March 2021 Member Newsletter

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Welcome to the First Edition of The MLC’s Member Newsletter!

We are committed to keeping you – our Members – informed and up-to-date on everything we are doing to serve you. Launching a new monthly newsletter sent solely to our Members is yet another way we hope to be able to fulfill this commitment. This month, we’ll be recapping the recent developments regarding historical unmatched royalties, providing some updates on a few Member tools and resources, and helping you prepare for The MLC’s first royalty distributions to rightsholders in April.

Let’s get started!

Make sure your contact and payment info is up-to-date
Monthly royalty payments to Members for January 2021 will be distributed in April
Royalty payments and statements will be issued 75 days following the end of each calendar month

Learn more about royalty payments and statements here

We announced on February 16 that 20 DSPs had transferred a total of $424,384,786 in accrued historical unmatched royalties. (Read The MLC’s press release on these transfers here.)

While The MLC received all of the historical unmatched money at this point, we will not receive the remaining accompanying data from the DSPs until June. Once that happens, we will then attempt to identify the proper song owners and pay out anything it matches with interest. The MLC is currently developing a claiming section for our Portal where Members will be able to review and claim any unmatched activity that pertains to their songs. Members will be able to review the historical unmatched royalties data here and any new unmatched royalties that arise from activity reported to The MLC pursuant to the new blanket license. Once songs are matched and properly claimed by Members, The MLC will pay out the matched royalties as part of our monthly royalty distribution process.

Learn more details about Historical Unmatched Royalties

Bulk Upload: We introduced an updated bulk upload template in February that includes more information on each column and provides greater clarity on how to use the document, along with new template version numbers so users are aware any time a new template is introduced.

Dive deeper into what's new in The MLC Portal

Public Search: The MLC’s Public Search window is now live and accessible via our website. Just click the yellow “Public Search” button at the top right corner of The MLC’s homepage to get started.

Dispute Policy Page: We've added a page to our website where you can learn more about The MLC’s policy for handling ownership disputes that are brought to our attention. You can also access a copy of our first Disputes Policy, which deals with musical works ownership disputes.

Member Resource Page: We also launched a page on our website with materials specifically for Members! The page features a pair of new videos, including one for Members who have already set up their user accounts in The MLC Portal and want to add or assign additional users to their MLC Member accounts.