Ruff Buff Teach Tuesday: The MLC and the Streaming Money You Might Not Be Claiming
If your songs stream in the U.S., The MLC may be holding mechanical royalties with your name on them. Joining is free, and no company is needed.
Buffalo and Western New York songwriters have a royalty lane a lot of independent artists never set up, and this first Teach Tuesday is about it: The Mechanical Licensing Collective, known as The MLC.
The MLC is a nonprofit designated by the U.S. Copyright Office under the Music Modernization Act of 2018. Since January 2021 it has administered the blanket mechanical license for eligible U.S. streaming and download services. It collects those mechanical royalties and pays them monthly to songwriters, composers, lyricists and publishers, and it distributes 100 percent of what it collects.
Anyone who wants those royalties has to become a Member. There is no cost to join, no cost to register a song and no need to form a company first. A self-administered writer creates a Member in The MLC Portal, passes identity verification, usually within 24 to 48 hours, and adds tax and banking details.
Writing with someone else? Co-writers who can register and collect for themselves should each register their own share. If only 80 percent of a song is claimed, the other 20 percent is unclaimed. Unclaimed money is held for at least three years, then goes to publishers and self-administered songwriters by market share.
This is a separate lane from BMI and ASCAP. The MLC does not handle public performance royalties, and joining does not replace your PRO.
This is general information from The MLC's own pages, not legal or tax advice.
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