Blanket Royalties

Eligible DSPs began operating under the blanket license administered by The MLC as early as January 1, 2021. Those DSPs electing to operate under the blanket license are required to send mechanical royalty payments and usage reports for their services on a monthly basis. DSPs have the option of sending their payments and usage reports within 15 days after the end of a month if they would like The MLC to send them an invoice showing the amount in royalties owed. Alternatively, DSPs that choose not to receive an invoice must calculate the royalties owed themselves and submit both their payment and usage report to The MLC by the 45th day after the end of the usage period.

The MLC also distributes royalties to Members on a monthly basis, approximately 75 days after the end of each monthly period. For example, for those DSPs that send The MLC usage reports and payments for January, The MLC will send royalty statements and payments to Members in mid to late April.

Here are some key dates of The MLC’s distribution cycle. The example below shows these key dates for the distribution cycle that would cover the activity reported to The MLC by DSPs for the January reporting period.

The MLC issues royalty payments and statements approximately 75 days following the end of each calendar month. When statements are made available, Members receive a notification directing them to the Royalties section of the Member Hub within The MLC Portal where they can access their statements. Royalty statements are available in the following layouts:

1. Royalty Detail Statement Layout provides royalty data corresponding with the individual sound recordings contained in DSP usage reports. Click here to view an example of the Royalty Detail Layout.
2. Work Summary Statement Layout provides royalty data summarized at the musical work level. Click here to view an example of the Work Summary Layout.

Statements will be provided in the Tab Separated Value (.tsv) file format, which is compatible with most commonly available spreadsheet software.

Royalties are calculated using the Statutory Royalty Rates. Click here to learn more about the rates.

Under U.S. copyright law, royalties may be adjusted retroactively for a variety of reasons. Resolution of disputes between Members, or errors in information provided by Members, may lead to adjustments where royalties are debited from one Member account and credited to another. Members should notify The MLC immediately if they discover a situation where they believe royalties have not been distributed properly. The MLC’s Guidelines for Adjustments can be found here.

DSP Adjustments

Royalty distributions may also be adjusted retroactively based on adjustments to prior usage reporting that The MLC receives from DSPs, as authorized under 37 CFR 210.27(k).

Statutory Rate Adjustments

Royalty distributions may also be adjusted retroactively based on retroactive changes to the statutory mechanical royalty rates set forth by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB).

Note: The CRB finalized the rates for the Phonorecords III (Phono 3) period (2018-2022) in August 2023. Under applicable regulations, DSPs had until February 9, 2024 to deliver their revised usage and adjusted payments for their previously reported Phono 3 usages. The MLC began distributing the first sets of matched historical royalties for uses that took place during the Phono 3 rate period in the April 2024 royalty distribution — only two months after receiving the revised data for this period from DSPs. Each distribution of matched historical royalties also includes the associated interest calculated at the rate recommended in the MMA from the time the historical unmatched royalties were transferred to The MLC. You can track The MLC’s progress distributing historical unmatched royalties by viewing the dynamic Historical Royalties Dashboard here.