The MLC completed 12 monthly royalty distributions in 2024, our fourth year of operations, and each of those distributions was completed on time or early. As the chart below shows, for the 12 monthly distributions in 2024, The MLC processed $1.05 billion, directly distributed $814.7 million in royalties, and processed usage covered by voluntary licenses maintained by DSPs valued at an additional $45.0 million — bringing our total royalties distributed during the year to $859.7 million. Our average initial match rate for those distributions averaged 84.1 percent, but thanks to reprocessing, our average current match rate for those distributions is now 89.8 percent.
Here are some additional metrics for the 12 royalty distributions we completed in 2024:
2021, 2022, and 2023 Royalty Distributions — Continued Improvement
In addition to completing 12 more monthly royalty distributions in 2024, we continued to reprocess the remaining unpaid data from the nine monthly royalty distributions we completed in 2021, the 12 monthly royalty distributions we completed in 2022, and the 12 monthly royalty distributions we completed in 2023, using the millions of new works registrations we received from our Members during the year. As a result of our efforts and the influx of this additional data since completing those initial distributions, we have been able to pay out approximately $46.5 million in additional royalties for those nine royalty periods completed in 2021, approximately $41.7 million in additional royalties for those 12 royalty periods completed in 2022, approximately $44.4 million in additional royalties for those 12 royalty periods completed in 2023. These additional amounts correspondingly reduced the amount of unpaid royalties we were holding for the usage initially reported during each of those periods. The charts below show the cumulative metrics for the nine royalty distributions in 2021, the 12 royalty distributions in 2022, and the 12 royalty distributions in 2023, as of the first annual royalty recaps containing cumulative metrics for each and the updated metrics for those distributions as of the February 2025 distribution.
To view the cumulative metrics from previous recaps, click here for the 2021 Annual Royalty Recap, click here for the 2022 Annual Royalty Recap, and click here for the 2023 Annual Royalty Recap.
Cumulative Totals for Four Years of Royalty Distributions
The chart below shows our current cumulative metrics for the nine months of distributions we completed in 2021, the 12 months of distributions we completed in 2022, the 12 months of distributions we completed in 2023, and the 12 months of distributions we completed in 2024 — each as of the February 2025 distribution.
Some important things to note:
- Keep in mind that we only completed nine monthly distributions in 2021, while we completed 12 in 2022, 2023, and 2024, so the amounts for 2022, 2023, and 2024 will be higher because they each include three additional monthly distributions.
- Also keep in mind that we’ve had more time to reprocess the remaining usage from older distributions than we’ve had to reprocess the remaining usage from more recent distributions. That is why the current average match rates for the older distributions are higher than the current match rates for the more recent distributions.
Breakdown of Blanket Royalties Pending After Distribution
These are blanket royalties we were still holding after we had completed our initial effort to process and distribute these royalties and our subsequent efforts to reprocess the remaining royalties that we were not able to distribute during that initial distribution. As of the end of 2024, we were holding approximately $519.8 million in blanket royalties that were still pending distribution. These remaining royalties can be broken down into the following three categories: blanket unmatched royalties, blanket unclaimed royalties, and blanket held royalties.
Blanket Unmatched Royalties
These are unpaid blanket royalties for sound recording uses reported to us by DSPs after January 1, 2021 that we had not yet been able to match to a registered musical work in our database. The total amount of blanket unmatched royalties being held by The MLC is approximately $273.8 million, which represents 8.4 percent of the total royalty pools we have processed.
Blanket Unclaimed Royalties
These are blanket royalties for uses we were able to match to a registered musical work in our database, so these are not unmatched royalties. However, not every song to which we matched uses has been 100% claimed. Blanket unclaimed royalties are the royalties for matched uses that are associated with those unclaimed shares. The total amount of blanket unclaimed royalties being held by The MLC is approximately $225.2 million, which represents 6.9 percent of the total royalty pools we have processed.
Blanket Held Royalties
These are blanket royalties we were able to match to a registered musical work in our database that we subsequently placed on hold for various legal or other reasons, such as ownership disputes, legal holds, overclaim holds, statutory termination holds, and payee reviews. The total amount of blanket held royalties is approximately $20.8 million, which represents less than 1 percent of the total royalty pools we have processed.
Adjustments
Phono 3 Adjustments for 2021 and 2022
In September 2024, we began processing adjustments reported to us by DSPs for blanket usage from the last two years of the Phono 3 rate period (i.e., 2021 and 2022). These adjustments represent the difference between the royalties we initially processed for the usage periods from those two years at the Phono 2 rates and the royalties that are due at the final Phono 3 rates. The chart below shows the amounts processed, collected, distributed, and pending in the distributions between September 2024 and December 2024, plus the amounts from reprocessing of the remaining royalties from those periods, as of the February 2025 distribution.
Adjustments for 2023 Reported with Annual Reports of Usage
Also in September 2024, we began processing adjustments for 2023 reported to us by certain DSPs in connection with their Annual Reports of Usage (ARoU). The chart below shows the amounts processed, collected, distributed, and pending in the distributions between September 2024 and December 2024, plus the amounts from reprocessing of the remaining royalties from those periods, as of the February 2025 distribution. The negative amount of these adjustments reflects overpayments of royalties reported by DSPs in their 2023 ARoUs.
How Can You Play Your Part?
- Register your songs: Make sure all of your songs have been accurately registered with The MLC. Anyone can use our Public Search tool to search for songs by writer and publisher name and identify missing songs. Members can see all of the songs they’ve registered in The MLC Portal by clicking on the Catalog view, and they can also download any or all of the songs in their catalog using our Catalog Export feature.
- Match your music: Members can use The MLC’s Matching Tool to search the data for unmatched uses and then propose matches of those uses to the works they’ve registered.
- Claim for credit: Members can use our Claiming Tool to search for registered works in our database for which they have not yet claimed any shares. Once they find registered works that are missing their shares, they can use the tool to claim those shares. Anyone, including songwriters who work with publishers and administrators, can use The MLC’s Public Search tool to see whether the shares for a given work have all been claimed.
- Don’t delay disputes: Whether you are party to a dispute with another Member or The MLC is investigating a work you have registered, please do your best to respond timely and completely to any inquiries you receive from The MLC and to provide any information you might have that may help resolve your dispute. The quicker you respond, the quicker The MLC can try and resolve the underlying issue and remove the hold placed on the royalties in question.
The MLC Has Fully Illuminated the “Black Box”
We are proud to have fully illuminated the so-called “black box” of streaming mechanical royalties in the U.S. Now, the data on all unmatched uses is posted and available to be searched by Members. As The MLC processes historical unmatched royalties and blanket royalties, we either match and distribute the royalties, or we make information on any remaining unmatched uses available to be searched by Members within our Matching Tool. With this unprecedented transparency, The MLC has illuminated the “black box” of mechanical royalties for the first time. We encourage Members to take a look at the progress we’ve made in processing historical unmatched royalties here.