We hope your summer is off to a great start! In this Quarter Note, we’re excited to share an update on the U.S. Copyright Office’s continued designation of The MLC to serve as the statutory mechanical licensing collective established by the Music Modernization Act. We also offer a reminder for rightsholders on how to prepare for market share distributions, which are expected to begin in 2027, along with highlights from our newest free micro-course and the latest episodes of our podcast.
The Register of Copyrights (who leads the U.S. Copyright Office) has officially continued The MLC’s designation as the statutory collective responsible for administering the blanket compulsory mechanical license available to eligible streaming and download services in the U.S., which was established by the passage of the Music Modernization Act of 2018. This ruling brings to a successful close the Register’s first periodic review of The MLC’s initial five-year designation and reflects the Register’s conclusion that The MLC has effectively fulfilled its statutory responsibilities.
We are thrilled with this outcome and grateful for the support we’ve received throughout the review process from stakeholders across the music industry. The MLC will continue to work closely with the U.S. Copyright Office, the members of our Board of Directors, our advisory committees, and the digital services that operate under the blanket compulsory license during our next designation period to help ensure that our Members continue to receive the mechanical royalties they’ve earned. For more information, view the press release here.
In our last Quarter Note, we told you about our plans to begin market share distributions in 2027. As a reminder, under the Music Modernization Act, any remaining unmatched and unclaimed royalties (collectively referred to as “unclaimed accrued royalties”) must eventually be distributed to rightsholders through a market share distribution process. You can find more information and FAQs about the market share process here.
As market share distributions approach, now is the perfect time for rightsholders — and those who support them — to review and update their data with The MLC. The tools within the Member Hub and Songwriter Hub make it easy to download song catalogs, review the data The MLC has for songs, submit any needed corrections, and review unmatched sound recordings to suggest matches. Taking these steps now will help ensure rightsholders are set up to receive the royalties they’ve earned.
And if you know anyone who still needs to connect with The MLC, you can point them to our Get Started page here.
We recently launched a free online micro-course designed to help music creators, current and aspiring industry professionals, and others better understand how music rights work and how to properly register music rights in order to ensure royalties are distributed to the appropriate rightsholders.
Music Registration 101: Registering Your Music covers key steps in the music registration process, including registering with The MLC, a performing rights organization, the U.S. Copyright Office, a distributor, and SoundExchange. The course is available at no cost and is one of two free micro-courses currently offered by The MLC. For more information or to request enrollment, click here.
New episodes of our podcast, “Taking Care of Your Music Business,” are now available! Don’t miss “Be Your Own CEO: Owning the Opportunity” featuring songwriter and artist Dawn Richard, alongside The MLC’s Jamie Dominguez. Join them as they explore the importance of diversifying revenue streams, keeping metadata accurate, and connecting with The MLC to collect U.S. streaming royalties. Follow the link below to check out this episode and all of Season 3!
Please note that Support will close early at 1:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, July 2 and will be closed all day on Friday, July 3 in observance of Independence Day.
