Press Release

The MLC announces that monthly market share distributions will begin in April 2027; announces the re-selection of Kevin Kadish and Troy Verges as Songwriter Directors and the re-election of Alisa Coleman as a Publisher Director of The MLC’s Board of Directors.

NASHVILLE, TN – The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) held its Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, highlighting key milestones from its first five years of operations, including more than $4.2 billion in total royalties distributed. The MLC also announced that the congressionally mandated process for distributing remaining unclaimed accrued royalties will begin in April 2027.

Under the Music Modernization Act (MMA), The MLC is required to hold and continue efforts to match and distribute unclaimed accrued royalties — which include unmatched royalties and unclaimed royalties — for a minimum of three years before distributing any remaining royalties through a market share distribution process. Through this process, The MLC is required to distribute remaining unclaimed accrued royalties, plus applicable interest calculated at the statutory rate, to rightsholders based on their relative market shares.

The MLC will begin monthly market share distributions of the remaining unclaimed accrued blanket royalties from usage reported to The MLC in 2021, starting with the remaining royalties from January 2021, the first month digital service providers (DSPs) reported royalties under the blanket compulsory mechanical license The MLC administers. The MLC plans to distribute the remaining eligible royalties from 2021 usage one month at a time, beginning with the April 2027 royalty distribution. By the time that first distribution takes place, The MLC will have spent more than six years attempting to match and distribute the blanket royalties reported for the January 2021 usage — twice as long as the statutory minimum holding period. Because The MLC will only distribute one month of remaining unclaimed accrued royalties each month, The MLC will end up spending more than six years attempting to match and distribute the blanket royalties it receives for each subsequent month of usage.

For each monthly market share distribution, The MLC will allocate the remaining unclaimed accrued royalties on a song-based, pro rata basis. The MLC will separately allocate these remaining royalties for each DSP and offering, using the usage data reported to The MLC and The MLC’s actual distribution data. Each song that earned blanket royalties from a given DSP and offering during the applicable usage month will receive its pro rata share of the remaining royalties for that month. The MLC will include all royalties distributed for each song, whether from the initial distribution of royalties or from subsequent reprocessing.

The MLC has published additional information about the market share distribution process on the Market Share page on The MLC’s website. The MLC has also launched an Unclaimed Accrued Royalties Dashboard on its website, which provides monthly data on the remaining unclaimed accrued royalties associated with 2021 usage, including total royalty pools reported, amounts distributed or in dispute, and the current amount of the unclaimed accrued royalties for each month that will be eligible for future market share distributions.

During the Annual Meeting, The MLC also highlighted its continued growth and progress over the first five years of its operations, culminating with the U.S. Register of Copyrights' decision to continue The MLC’s designation as the statutory mechanical royalties collective established under the MMA. Here are some of the key metrics and milestones that members of The MLC’s leadership team shared during the meeting:

• The MLC has processed nearly $5 billion in total royalties and distributed more than $4.2 billion in total royalties to rightsholders.
• The MLC has distributed nearly $239 million in historical royalties — more than 60 percent of the total amount of historical unmatched royalties DSPs were unable to match and distribute before transferring them to The MLC.
• The MLC now has more than 100,000 Members, having added more than 27,000 Members to date in 2026.
• The MLC has compiled data for more than 60 million works in its public database, an increase of more than 8 million new works added to date in 2026.
• The MLC has achieved a current match rate of more than 92 percent for all royalties processed through the September royalty distribution.
• The MLC has developed and continues to enhance a growing suite of tools that enable rightsholders to register works, claim shares of previously registered works, submit proposed matches for unmatched usage, and more.
• The MLC’s Songwriter Hub now has more than 20,000 users, providing songwriters whose royalties are managed by a publisher or administrator with tools to view and manage their catalog information, including building and exporting catalogs, updating data, submitting proposed matches for unmatched usage, and more.
• The MLC has made extensive efforts to conduct outreach and educational activities aimed at reaching the full cross-section of the rightsholder community, with nearly 200 outreach and education events in 2026, contributing to a total of more than 1,300 outreach and education activities to reach and educate rightsholders.

These metrics were also cited by the U.S. Register of Copyrights’ decision to continue The MLC’s designation, concluding that “[o]verall, the administration of the MMA’s blanket mechanical license has been a great success for publishers, songwriters, and [digital services].”

The meeting also included announcements regarding the organization’s Board of Directors. The MLC’s Class A Members re-selected Kevin Kadish and Troy Verges to serve additional three-year terms as Songwriter Directors of the Board. The MLC’s Class B Members re-elected Alisa Coleman to serve another three-year term as a Publisher Director of the Board. Lidia Kim has moved into the Class C seat as a Publisher Director of the Board, previously held by Jeff Brabec. The MLC extends its thanks to Jeff for his service and contributions to The MLC.

“We’re proud of the progress The MLC has made since beginning operations in 2021 and we’re grateful to our Members and industry partners for their continued engagement and support,” said Kris Ahrend, CEO of The MLC. “Distributing more than $4.2 billion in total royalties to rightsholders is an important milestone. We’re grateful for the opportunity to continue our work following the Copyright Office’s decision to continue our designation. The start of market share distributions in April 2027 represents another important step in fulfilling The MLC’s statutory responsibilities under the MMA. We remain focused on carrying out that work and continuing to serve our Members and the broader rightsholder community.”

More information about The MLC’s market share distribution process is available here. More information about The MLC’s Board of Directors and Advisory Committees is available here. For more information about The MLC, visit https://www.themlc.com.