In this Quarter Note, we are excited to share our latest updates with you, including a recap of our Annual Membership Meeting, an update on Phono 3 royalties, and a summary of our new Catalog Transfer Policy.
It’s been great to see so many of you at industry events this fall. In this Quarter Note, we are excited to share our latest updates with you, including a recap of our Annual Membership Meeting, an update on Phono 3 royalties, and a summary of our new Catalog Transfer Policy.
Thank you for taking the time to read our updates each quarter. We are grateful for your support and appreciate all the ways you help to spread the word about The MLC.
On October 8, we held our fourth annual membership meeting. At that meeting, we announced that we have reached nearly $2.5 billion in total royalties distributed. We also announced the re-selection of Oak Felder to serve as a Songwriter Director on our Board of Directors, the re-election of Rell Lafargue as a Publisher Director on the Board, and the election of Jason Rys as a Publisher Director on the Board.
Here are some of the key metrics and milestones The MLC’s leadership team shared during the meeting:
The MLC now has more than 47,000 Members, having added more than 11,000 to date in 2024 – putting us on track to have our largest annual increase in Members ever.
The MLC has compiled data for more than 42 million works in our public database, with data for over 7 million new works added in 2024.
The MLC’s current match rate for all royalties processed through September’s royalty distribution is over 90 percent.
The MLC has completed 42 monthly royalty distributions to date, every one of which has been completed on time or early.
The MLC has achieved total royalties distributed of more than $2.4 billion. As of the September distribution, The MLC has also distributed over $150 million in historical royalties that DSPs transferred to The MLC because they were unable to distribute them previously.
The MLC continued to develop new tools for Members, including the recently released Overclaims Tool, while also enhancing its growing suite of existing tools that enable Members to register works, claim their shares of previously registered works, submit proposed matches of their works to unmatched usage, and more.
The MLC has continued to conduct extensive outreach and educational activities aimed at reaching every corner of the rightsholder community, with over 350 in-person outreach and education events held to date.
In April, we began distributing matched Phono 3 historical royalties. For each DSP that transferred unmatched royalties to The MLC from the Phono 3 rate period, we aim to distribute matched historical royalties for previously unpaid uses reported by the DSP concerned in one of our monthly royalty distributions and then matches historical royalties for previously partially paid uses from that same DSP in the next monthly royalty distribution. So far, we have distributed more than $163 million in matched historical royalties from the Phono 3 rate period alone. We expect to continue processing additional matched historical royalties from the Phono 3 rate period each month through the end of this calendar year and then into the first half of 2025, until we have attempted to distribute all of the previously unmatched historical royalties for uses from the Phono 3 period that were transferred to us by DSPs.
To date, we have already distributed more than 89 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 1 rate period, more than 51 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 2 rate period, and now more than 47 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 3 rate period, for a total of $190 million in historical royalties. We expect these amounts and percentages will continue to improve as we process the remaining unmatched historical royalties from the Phono 3 rate period while continuing to reprocess the remaining royalties from all three rate periods.
You can track the progress we’ve made distributing historical unmatched royalties so far by checking out the dynamic Historical Royalties Dashboard on our website:
On July 9, 2024, The U.S. Copyright Office issued a final rule regarding statutory termination rights. While the primary focus of the rule was the application of the derivative works exception to the statutory termination rights provided in the Copyright Act and its relation to the blanket license established under the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the rule also required The MLC to make the procedures by which The MLC analyzes and processes catalog transfer requests available on The MLC website. (37 C.F.R. 210.30)
In response, The MLC has drafted a new Catalog Transfer Policy that outlines the standard procedures The MLC uses to (a) analyze catalog transfer requests, (b) administer royalties for works, or shares of works that are subject to a catalog transfer, and (c) address conflicts and disputes that arise in the catalog transfer process.
This new Catalog Transfer Policy (available here) reflects both the processes The MLC has developed over the past several years for handling catalog transfers and the feedback on these processes we have received from Members. In that regard, it is completely consistent with The MLC’s existing processes for facilitating catalog transfers requested by Members. This new Catalog Transfer Policy took effect on October 9, 2024.
Join us for an informative webinar on how to effectively use The MLC’s Public Work Search tool to find and claim your streaming royalties.
In this webinar, we will guide you through the features and functionalities of the Public Work Search, helping you navigate the database to access essential information about song ownership and rights. We will share best practices for verifying your songs and address your questions to help you maximize your royalty collection.
Whether you’re a songwriter, music publisher, or a music enthusiast, understanding song ownership is crucial in today’s music industry. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to leverage this powerful resource to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions regarding your music.
