The MLC is Sitting On $423 Million, How Songwriters Can Claim It

May 5, 2021

01:13:02

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Episode notes

Kris Ahrend is the CEO of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). This is the organization that was set up and appointed by Congress by the Copyright Office after the Music Modernization Act was signed into law. They officially went into effect in January of 2021. What the MLC does is collect mechanical royalties from streaming services in the United States. These are just royalties for songwriters. The DSPs pay the MLC and the MLC pays the rights holders.

Article: https://aristake.com/songwriters-claim-mlc-money/

MLC's website: https://www.themlc.com/

4:35 - What is the MLC and what do they do?

8:00 - Mechanical royalties and PROs, and where does the Harry Fox Agency play into everything?

14:50 - What is the statutory rate?

17:03 - How to find how much you've earned in mechanical royalties through the MLC

18:50 - Why you don't need the MLC if you have an admin publisher

21:08 - Why BMI, SESAC, ASCAP, or GMR is not enough to collect all of your royalties

24:30 - International mechanical royalties

26:47 - How much money is being lost to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC's commissions?

32:30 - The MLC and admin publishers

34:58 - Where does the data in the public search feature come from?