Songwriters Have Been Waiting Five Years for $373 Million in Royalties: Here’s What You Can Do to Help
variety.comJem Aswad Senior Music Editor This op-ed is jointly signed by the advocacy organizations the Songwriters of North America (SONA), the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), and the Music Artists Coalition (MAC).
If you love songwriters and hate the many ways songwriters are underpaid, paid slowly, or not paid at all, please read the following: There is over a quarter billion dollars of mechanical-royalty income related to songs that were streamed between 2018 and 2022 that has not been paid — and there is no guidance on when it will.
Why? Eyes down. The Mechanical Licensing Collective (“MLC”) is an organization responsible for receiving mechanical royalties from streaming services, matching the royalties for songs to the appropriate songwriters, and distributing that income to songwriters and publishing companies accordingly.
The MLC is currently holding $373 million dollars in mechanical royalty income for songs streamed between 2018 and 2022. In simplest terms, the MLC can’t distribute this money because the mechanical royalty rate for that period still has not been finalized.
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