We’ve reported on the process that’s going on in the US to choose a group to oversee the new Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) that is being created as a result of last year’s Music Modernization Act. Musician Zoë Keating is part of the group that *isn’t* affiliated with the National Music Publishers Association: the American Music Licensing Collective (AMLC).
In a blog post, she’s explained why, citing the community of independent (self-published) songwriters who are not represented by the NMPA. “The music publishers in the NMPA have direct deals with the streaming services. They have been collecting their royalties and will continue to do so without help of the MLC,” wrote Keating. “This is the part that worries me: written into the law, and in fact lobbied for by the NMPA, is language that indicates board members of the MLC are able to recommend the pot of unmatched royalties be liquidated and distributed to themselves by market share… The publishers in the NMPA will not use the MLC yet they can recommend liquidating the pot of unmatched royalties and distributing it to themselves? Will they have any incentive to do the work required to match these royalties to the songwriters who should get it?”
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…