Streaming services pay $ 424 million in royalties unmatched by the mechanical licensing collective

Streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music, paid $ 424,384,787 in unmatched historical royalties (or “black box” money) to the Mechanical Licensing Collective, MLC announced on Tuesday. Once MLC has analyzed the data to pay copyright holders, composers and publishers who signed up to be MLC members will begin receiving royalties and extract payments in April, Variety reports. MLC will also maintain a public database and make it possible for registered users to submit complaints.

Today’s payment to MLC marks one of the first steps outlined by the Music Modernization Act, which stipulates that MLC has a responsibility to distribute unparalleled royalties to rights holders within two years. After the two-year period, MLC has the option of distributing the remaining unpaid money to publishers based on market share.

The highest amounts transferred from digital streaming platforms to MLC came from Apple Music (more than $ 163 million), Spotify (more than $ 152 million), Amazon (more than $ 42 million) and Google / YouTube (more than $ 32 million).

The president / CEO of the National Music Publishers Association, David Israelite, said the MLC payment was a “massive victory” in a statement. “Music composers and publishers have struggled for years to ensure they are paid accurately and completely for digital streaming services,” he said. “’Unparalleled money’ has plagued the industry and today, thanks to the Music Modernization Act, we know that it amounts to just under $ 425 million, not including the money previously paid in multi-million dollar deals.”

Michelle Lewis, executive director of North American songwriters, asked SONA members to become MLC members to find out how they are eligible. “This money will now be matched and it will reach the legitimate composers and publishers who have earned these royalties,” said Lewis. “We encourage all SONA members, along with all composers, to access theMLC.com to find out how they are eligible to join or participate, which is critical to ensuring that each writer who has earned this money receives their fair share of these royalties. “

Kris Ahrend, CEO of MLC, said in a statement that MLC spent more than a year developing resources and conducting outreach to creators and publishers. “We were also fortunate to receive valuable input and guidance from our Board and Committee members – composers, editors and digital service executives – who have helped shape MLC’s mission and scope of work since MMA approval,” he said. Ahrend. “The arrival of the License Availability Date today marks another milestone in the process of making MMA’s promises a reality, and the MLC team couldn’t be more excited.”

The Artist Rights Alliance issued a statement saying that the transfer of unparalleled royalties is a “great start, but there is still a lot of work to be done to bring that money to the composers who won it”. The ARA statement continues:

We are grateful to the Copyright Office team who worked with skill and obstinacy on a number of complex issues in the months leading up to this transfer, including major disagreements over the proper handling of previous industry agreements.

In the coming months, we expect to become even more involved with the Office on the efforts of publishers who have already been paid for historical uses through settlement agreements to seek double payment for these new funds. As we told the Office in our previous files, major publishers that have already made deals with digital services and received payment from them should not be allowed to claim an additional portion of the money transferred to MLC today.

Today’s news is a big step forward for composers – made possible by so many stakeholders across the music community who came together to work for the approval of the Music Modernization Act and continue to work in good faith as it is implemented.