The MLC to Distribute Unclaimed Royalties in April 2027

The MLC announced it will begin distributing remaining unclaimed accrued royalties on a market-share basis in April 2027. The market-share distribution will start with January 2021 usage, which was the first month digital service providers reported royalties under the blanket license. Publishers and administrators must pay songwriters at least 50 percent of their works' share of these unclaimed accrued royalties.

Since beginning operations in January 2021, The MLC has distributed more than $4.2 billion in royalties to songwriters and publishers, processing nearly $5 billion in total royalties during its first five-year operating period. For its September distribution, The MLC reported a match rate of over 92 percent for all processed royalties. The organization has also matched more than $317 million in historical unmatched royalties covering streaming from 2007 to 2020, distributing $238.72 million of that total.

The MLC now has more than 100,000 members, and its public database contains information for more than 60 million works. In addition, Class A members re-elected songwriters Kevin Kadish and Troy Verges as Songwriter Directors to the Board of Directors.