Happy spring, everyone! This month’s distribution brings us to 24 total royalty distributions since we began full operations — two full years of monthly distributions.
Happy spring, everyone! This month’s distribution brings us to 24 total royalty distributions since we began full operations — two full years of monthly distributions. We are proud that during our first two years we were able to complete every single distribution either on time or early and we look forward to continuing this trend into year three.
As we have done in every monthly newsletter since completing our very first distribution, this month you will find our summary of the key metrics from this month’s distribution and other updates from The MLC. If you missed it in our February Member Newsletter, check out our secondAnnual Report Recapwhich summarizes the current metrics for all of our distributions for 2021 and 2022 usage.
Finally, know that our Member Newsletter continues to be the best source for accurate information about The MLC and our operations, along with our website and our official social media channels. Thank you for taking the time to read our updates each month. We hope to see you at some upcoming industry events!
We completed our third monthly royalty distribution of the year on Thursday, March 16, bringing us to 24 total royalty distributions since we began full operations — all of which have been on time or early. March’s distribution primarily covered newly reported usage that took place in December of 2022. The total of all royalty pools reported to The MLC for this cycle was approximately $66.1 million. Once again, we were able to match nearly 85 percent of that amount to songs currently registered in our database.
After deducting royalties for usage covered by voluntary licenses maintained by DSPs with rightsholders, we collected approximately $63.5 million in royalties and distributed approximately $46.3 million to our Members. To learn more about our March distribution and the historical unmatched data available in The MLC Portal, click here:
Since the new year, we have been working closely with the DSPs who utilize the blanket license to help them prepare to report royalties to us at the higher Phono 4 rates that began to apply starting with their January 2023 usage. (These new rates were finalized by the Copyright Royalty Board at the very end of December 2022). Members will begin receiving royalties calculated using the new Phono 4 rates starting next month in our April 2023 royalty distribution. As a refresher, you can read more about the Phono 4 rate changehere.