Let’s Make A Match – 

The MLC’s New Matching Tool  

We are pleased to announce that The MLC’s new Matching Tool is now available to Members through their accounts in The MLC Portal!

The Matching Tool provides Members with a way to search the sound recording usage data we have received from DSPs that has not yet been matched to a musical work in our database – and then propose matches to works they have previously registered. This tool gives Members an easy way to find unmatched royalties for their songs – and get paid. Its launch fulfills the first portion of a key provision in the Music Modernization Act, requiring The MLC to: “maintain a publicly accessible online facility...that lists unmatched musical works (and shares of works), through which a copyright owner may assert an ownership claim with respect to such a work (and a share of such a work).” Next month, we'll share more information about our new Claiming Tool, which will allow Members to search for unclaimed shares of registered works.

This requirement was also highlighted in the U.S. Copyright Office’s report in July outlining recommended best practices for The MLC to consider in order to minimize the amount of unmatched and unclaimed royalties.  

The Matching Tool is accessible in the menu on the left-hand side of your account in The MLC Portal. Once you open the Matching Tool screen, you can use the search fields to locate – and then link – any recordings that have not yet been matched to your works. The search results in the Matching Tool are sorted by relevance.  

With the launch of the Matching Tool, The MLC has created another new tool that our Members can use to manage their data, and giving Members a way to propose these matches will help The MLC pay out both historical unmatched royalties and unmatched blanket royalties received since January of this year. Resources like the Matching Tool also reaffirm The MLC’s commitment to greater transparency, and provides you – our Members - with yet another way you can Play Your Part and help us fulfill our mission to pay you all of the digital audio mechanical royalties you are entitled to receive from uses of your works. 

The MLC will host a webinar on November 19 that will provide Members with an in-depth demonstration of the Matching Tool, and you can find the details and registration link for that session below.