Last week, we distributed the second set of matched Phono 3 historical royalties covering usage from 2018, 2019 and 2020. These royalties pertain to uses during those three years that took place on four digital services: Apple Music, SoundCloud, hoopla and Pacemaker. We distributed roughly $33.5 million in matched Phono 3 historical royalties. These royalties cover usage for which these four DSPs previously paid some royalties directly to some of the rightsholders entitled to receive royalties. (We refer to these types of uses as “previously partially paid uses.”)
We also continued to distribute matched historical royalties for uses that took place between 2007 and 2017 (during the Phono 1 and 2 rate periods). As a result of reprocessing the remaining unmatched historical royalties that we began processing last year, we were able to distribute approximately $591k in historical royalties this month, plus interest, from a number of different digital services.
Overall, we have distributed more than 86 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 1 rate period, more than 49 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 2 rate period, and now more than 21 percent of the previously unmatched royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 3 rate period for a total of more than $100 million dollars in historical royalties.
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 database, as reflected in the snapshot of ownership data we used for this month’s blanket royalty distribution).
What’s next?
Next month, we will process another set of matched historical royalties from other DSPs, including GTL, MixCloud, Pandora, Qobuz and YouTube. Just as we did with the first set of matched historical royalties, we will first distribute matched historical royalties for previously unpaid uses reported by the DSP (or DSPs) concerned, followed by royalties for previously partially paid uses from that same DSP (or DSPs). We expect to continue this process for the rest of this calendar year and into 2025, until we have distributed all of the previously unmatched historical royalties for uses from the Phono 3 period that we have been able to match.
Where can I learn more?
We will continue to provide monthly recaps and previews about the matched historical royalties we distribute for uses from the Phono 3 period in our monthly Member newsletters.
If you’d like an overview about the performance royalties DSPs report to The MLC and how those can impact the mechanical royalties they owe, you can read more here. To catch up on the progress we’ve shared about historical unmatched royalties so far, you can find all the updates here. You can also read an overview on our historical unmatched royalties page (which reflects the most current Phono 3 adjustments) here.
As always, 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.