Photo Credit: The Mechanical Licensing Collective
The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) held its fourth annual membership meeting on Tuesday, October 8, during which they announced the re-selection of Oak Felder as Songwriter Director for a second three-year term on the Class A Board of Directors. They also re-elected Publisher Representative Rell Lafargue, and the newly elected Jason Rys as Publisher Director on the Class B Board of Directors. The MLC also announced the Class C Board of Directors would remain unchanged in 2025.
The leadership team shared updates on key metrics, while Alisa Coleman, Chair of the MLC Board of Directors, provided comments on the organization’s progress over the past year. The organization has enrolled over 47,000 members and completed all its monthly royalty distributions on time since April 2021. The MLC has achieved match rates of over 90% and totaled royalty distributions of nearly $2.5 billion, with over 42 million works in its public database.
Notably, the MLC also effectively illuminated the “black box” for digital audio mechanicals by giving members the ability to search all unmatched data and propose matches for their works using the collective’s Matching Tool. The MLC has received and approved nearly 2 million proposed matches submitted by members through the Matching Tool.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support we have received from our members and industry partners,” says Kris Ahrend, MLC CEO. “It is because of their support and partnership that we have been able to fulfill our mission so effectively and achieve these milestones. We remain committed to providing world-class service that empowers our members, enhances transparency, drives innovation, and transforms the way rights are administered in the music industry. We look forward to continuing our work in the coming year to fulfill our mission of ensuring songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers receive their mechanical royalties from streaming and download services in the United States accurately and on time.”
The meeting also unveiled additional metrics, such as the MLC’s development and enhancement of its growing suite of tools, including the newly released Overclaims Tool, which allows members to register works, claim shares of previously registered works, and submit proposed matches for unmatched usage. The collective also made significant outreach and educational efforts with over 350 in-person events to educate the rightsholder community.
