The MLC Is Holding $160 Million in Unmatched Historical Royalties. Here Is How to Claim Yours.
Before 2021, DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music accumulated US mechanical royalties they could not pay out because songwriter credits were unresolved. They transferred about $397 million to The MLC. As of June 2026, about $160 million is still unmatched and claimable.
Short answer
Under the Music Modernization Act, 21 digital service providers transferred approximately $397 million in pre-2021 historical unmatched US mechanical royalties to The Mechanical Licensing Collective. The royalties cover interactive streaming between 2007 and 2020. As of June 2026, The MLC has distributed about $237 million (59.6%), leaving roughly $160 million still unmatched. Registered songwriters, publishers, and administrators can search for unmatched uses of their works and claim those royalties through The MLC's free Matching Tool at no cost.
Key takeaways
- Before The MLC launched in January 2021, DSPs accumulated US mechanical royalties they could not pay out because songwriter credits were unresolved. Twenty-one platforms transferred about $397 million to The MLC by February 2021.
- As of June 2026, The MLC has distributed about $237 million (59.6%). Around $160 million is still unmatched across royalties from streaming between 2007 and 2020.
- These are US digital mechanical royalties for the composition, the song itself. They are separate from master royalties your distributor pays, and from SOCAN performance royalties.
- Any songwriter, publisher, or administrator can register with The MLC for free and use its Matching Tool to search for unmatched uses and claim royalties on their works.
What are historical unmatched royalties?
Before The MLC launched in January 2021, digital services like Spotify and Apple Music had to track down who owned each song they streamed in order to pay the mechanical royalty. When they could not find the owner, the royalty sat unpaid. Over years, those unresolved funds accumulated.
The Music Modernization Act (2018) created The MLC to handle US digital mechanical royalties from a central place. As part of the launch, DSPs that transferred their historical unmatched royalties to The MLC by February 2021 received protection from liability for prior infringement. Twenty-one platforms took that deal.
The original total was about $424 million. The Copyright Royalty Board did not finalize rates for the 2018 to 2020 streaming period until August 2023, which meant DSPs had to recalculate their transfers once those rates landed. After adjustments were submitted in early 2024, the total settled at approximately $397 million.
Where the money stands now
The MLC has been distributing matched royalties in batches since May 2022. The earliest period (2007 to 2012) is nearly resolved at 97.6% distributed. The bulk of the pool came from the 2018 to 2020 period, which sits at about 60% distributed as of June 2026.
Total adjusted value transferred by 21 DSPs
Distributed to matched rights holders as of June 2026
Still unmatched and available to claim
Streaming platforms that transferred historical unmatched royalties
| Period | Streaming years | Transferred | Distributed | % matched |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phono 1 | 2007 to 2012 | $0.48M | $0.47M | 97.6% |
| Phono 2 | 2013 to 2017 | $52.83M | $29.79M | 56.4% |
| Phono 3 | 2018 to 2020 | $343.97M | $206.32M | 60.0% |
The largest transfers came from Apple Music (approximately $148 million), Spotify (approximately $146 million), Amazon Music ($37 million), and Google/YouTube ($30 million).
Why independent artists should care
These are US digital mechanical royalties for the composition, the song itself. They are separate from what your distributor sends you for the recording, and separate from your performance royalties at SOCAN, ASCAP, or BMI.
If you wrote songs that streamed on US platforms between 2007 and 2020, and those songs were not registered with a publishing administrator covering US mechanicals, there may be royalties sitting at The MLC unmatched to your work. Independent songwriters without a publisher or a US mechanical administrator during those years are the most likely to have unmatched funds. Large publishers generally had better tracking systems and claimed the biggest share early.
All unmatched uses are available to be searched by Members in The MLC’s Matching Tool. With this unprecedented transparency, The MLC has illuminated the so-called “black box” of streaming mechanical royalties for the first time.
You can search The MLC’s public database without an account. The Matching Tool at portal.themlc.com lets you look up unmatched royalties by ISRC, title, or songwriter name before you register.
How to check if any of it is yours
Register and search
Register with The MLC at themlc.com. It is free for songwriters, publishers, and administrators. Once you have an account, add your works with songwriter splits, publisher information, and the ISRCs for associated recordings. Then use the Matching Tool to run searches. The MLC distributes royalties monthly; when a match is confirmed, the royalty is paid in the next cycle, including interest accumulated from the date the funds were transferred.
Who this covers
You need a songwriter or publisher stake in the composition to claim from this pool. If you only own the master recording and not the underlying song, these specific royalties belong to whoever wrote it. If you wrote and recorded your own music, both sides apply. If you have co-writers, the unmatched royalties for a composition are divided according to your writer splits.
What is still unclear?
The unmatched remainder
The MLC has not announced a firm timeline for distributing the funds that cannot be matched to any rights holder. The Copyright Office recommended waiting at least five years from when the Matching Tool was fully operational before any market-share distribution occurs. As of June 2026, that clock is still running. The MLC’s news section at themlc.com is the place to watch for updates on how the remaining $160 million will ultimately be handled.
Sources
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