We continue to reprocess the remaining unmatched historical royalties from previous distributions. This month’s distribution included newly matched historical royalties for uses that took place between 2008 and 2017 during the Phono 1 and 2 rate periods, and between 2018 and 2020 during the Phono 3 rate period. As a result of reprocessing these remaining unmatched historical usages, we were able to distribute approximately $4.7 million in additional historical royalties this month, plus interest, from a number of digital services.

Overall, The MLC has been able to match and distribute nearly $234 million — nearly 59 percent — of the $397 million in previously unmatched historical royalties that DSPs transferred to us in 2021.

Broken down by rate period, we have now distributed:

  • Nearly 97 percent of the previously unmatched historical royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 1 rate period (2008-2012);
  • Nearly 56 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 2 rate period (2013-2017); and
  • Over 59 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 3 rate period (2018-2020).

Consistent with the way we’ve handled matched historical royalties in the past, the matched historical royalties we distributed this month are clearly identified on your royalty statements, and we specify the usage month for these historical royalties just like we do for blanket royalties. As we have always done, we’ve distributed matched historical royalties using the same payee data that we used to distribute blanket royalties (i.e., we’ve distributed royalties to the “current payee” registered in The MLC’s database, as reflected in the snapshot of ownership data we used for this month’s blanket royalty distribution).

What’s Next?

We have now processed nearly all of the previously unmatched historical royalties for usage that took place during the Phono 3 rate period. The only remaining historical royalties from the Phono 3 period that we have yet to process were transferred by FanLabel and Weav. Unfortunately, issues with the data these DSPs provided have prevented us from processing these royalties. Since the total amount of royalties transferred by these two DSPs is only a little over $16k, we plan to revisit these royalties later in the year.

Where Can I Learn More?

To see the progress we’ve made so far distributing historical unmatched royalties, you can view our Historical Royalties Dashboard here.

If you have any questions about any of these updates, or anything else related to The MLC, please don’t hesitate to contact our Support Team.