The MLC - Time for Independent Songwriters to Submit Their Data To Be Paid for Streams

Photo by Lee Campbell on Unsplash

In January 2021, The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), a nonprofit organization designated by the U.S. Copyright Office pursuant to the historic Music Modernization Act of 2018, will issue and administer blanket mechanical licenses for eligible streaming and download services (digital service providers or DSPs) in the United States. The MLC will then collect the royalties due under those licenses from the DSPs and pay songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers.

If you are an independent music publisher or solo songwriter self-administering your song catalog, you need to provide The MLC information on your musical compositions to help them help you get paid your streaming song copyright royalties.

The MLC created the Music Data Organization Worksheet to help self-administered songwriters, composers, and lyricists organize their musical works' data ahead of The MLC’s roll-out of The MLC Portal.

Download the Music Data Organization Worksheet and start uploading details about your compositions. For the indie/self administered songwriter, completing and submitting the worksheet is the best route to being paid accurately for streams and download starting in 2021.