Dear Member,

Two weeks ago, we shared a status update with you on our efforts to match the data we received for historical unmatched uses. We announced that Members are now able to use the Matching Tool in The MLC’s Portal to search the first set of data for the remaining historical uses we have not yet been able to match. Today we are writing to let you know that we have begun distributing the first set of royalties for matched historical uses this week in our June monthly royalty distribution.

Today we distributed approximately $2.1 million in matched royalties for historical uses that were transferred to The MLC by the following 5 DSPs: Deezer, Hoopla, Pandora, SoundCloud and Tidal. The matched royalties from these DSPs that we distributed this month are for uses that took place during the Phonorecords 2 rate period (i.e., between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017). These historical royalties will be identified separately on the royalty statements we provide to Members, and we will specify the usage month for these historical royalties just like we already do for blanket royalties.   

Here are some additional details about the first set of matched royalties we are distributing: 

• These five DSPs cumulatively transferred roughly $6 million in historical unmatched royalties to The MLC for uses that took place during the Phonorecords 2 period.  
• Today, we paid out approximately $2.1 million in matched historical royalties from these five DSPs for uses that took place in the Phonorecords 2 period. These royalties all pertain to historical uses for which these DSPs did not previously pay out any royalties to rightsholders. 
• Once we have completed our initial distributions of matched royalties for Phonorecords 2 uses for which DSPs did not previously pay out any royalties, we will look to begin processing matched royalties for Phonorecords 2 uses from these DSPs for which they previously paid out some royalties (i.e., partially paid uses). 

Over the next several months, we expect to distribute additional matched royalties from other DSPs for uses that took place during the Phonorecords 2 period. Once the Copyright Royalty Board issues final rates for the Phonorecords 3 period, we will be in a better position to estimate when we can begin to distribute royalties for uses during that period.

The MLC received nearly $427 million in accrued historical unmatched royalties and more than 4,000 data files from 21 DSPs. These royalties and the corresponding data files relate to unmatched uses dating back to 2007. There are four different sets of rates that apply to uses that took place during this 13-year period. The most recent set of rates — for the Phonorecords 3 rate period (which applies to historical unmatched uses that took place between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020) — have still not been finally determined by the Copyright Royalty Board. As a result, we are starting by distributing matched historical royalties for uses that took place in the earlier rate periods.  

Here’s a breakdown of the $427 million in accrued historical unmatched royalties we received from DSPs for each Phonorecords period:

Since launching its full operations last year, The MLC has worked to provide our Members with the tools they need to register and check their musical works data, and they have responded by submitting more than 14 million works registrations. This data has already enabled us to steadily increase the amount of blanket royalties we’ve paid out in our first 14 monthly distributions. This data is now enabling us to begin matching and paying out historical royalties — a process that will continue to unfold over the rest of this year and into 2023. We will continue to provide you with updates in the coming weeks and months as the process progresses.

The Support Team Is Here For You!

Email: Start here

Call: 615-488-3653

Chat: In the Portal