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NASHVILLE, TN - The Mechanical Licensing Collective
(The MLC) has kicked off its inaugural MLC Week, launching a full week of
panels and programming intended to provide important updates about The
MLC’s progress as the organization prepares to launch its full operations
in January 2021.
The first panel, entitled “Join
us in Supporting The MLC,” aired on Monday, October 26 and
was moderated by Billboard’s Robert Levine and included industry
stakeholders discussing how The MLC will empower copyright holders around
the globe. Representatives from the National Music Publishers’
Association, Nashville Songwriters Association
International, Digital Licensee Coordinator,
and U.S. Copyright Office joined The
MLC CEO Kris Ahrend and The MLC Board Chair
Alisa Coleman (who also serves as ABKCO Music &
Records, Inc. Chief Operating Officer) for a wide-ranging conversation
about the history and origin of The MLC and the challenges the organization
is working to address to improve the distribution of digital mechanical
royalties.
Watch the archived
panel discussion here.
Chief
Executive Officer Kris Ahrend said, “This is a
great panel discussion for future Members of The MLC to watch if
they have not previously attended one of our past webinars and want to
understand more about the history about the MMA and the creation of the
MLC.”
During the discussion, Bart
Herbison, Executive Director of the Nashville Songwriters Association
International, urged songwriters to begin preparing their
musical works data in order to join The MLC and begin collecting their
mechanical royalties, stating, “I’m going to try to boil it down real
quickly in layman’s terms for songwriters: You just have to make sure your
data is given to us… I think we’re going to have thousands – maybe several
thousand people – that for the first time ever, if they utilize The MLC,
will get paid their mechanical royalties.”
National
Music Publishers’ Association EVP and General Counsel Danielle
Aguirre said, “This is a new system for everyone,
including from the biggest music publisher to the smallest. They have to
learn that we’ve now instituted a new system where you have to be a little
more active, but the benefit of that is great – the ability to get paid
everything that you’re actually owed from the use of your musical works is
great and much more likely than it was under the prior system.”
Alisa
Coleman added, “We [now] have an opportunity to really
get proactive, to make sure our percentages are listed correctly in [The
MLC] Portal, to make sure that the songs are matched to the right sound
recording, [and] to really make sure that we’re collecting what we’re
supposed to be collecting on behalf of the songwriters we represent because
that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about helping the songwriters get what
they need to get and what they deserve.”
Coleman also
penned an op-ed published
in Billboard that provides an
overview of The MLC’s purpose and underscores the importance of supporting
The MLC.
In the op-ed, Coleman writes,
“When the music industry comes together, powerful things can
happen… publishers, songwriters, and various digital service executives
have donated hours to establish and launch the MLC, the non-profit
organization that will collect and distribute mechanical royalties… To
make this work, however, we need you -- your input, your engagement, and
your data. And as the MLC prepares to begin fully operating in January
2021, that involvement is more important than ever.”
To read the full op-ed, click here.
MLC Week will continue through October 30 with additional webinars and
interactive Q&A sessions with key leaders of The MLC. Coming up
next:
- Tuesday, October 27 at 11am CT/ 12pm ET: “The MLC Portal” featuring The MLC’s Chief Information Officer
Richard Thompson (Register Here)
- Wednesday, October 28 at 11am CT/ 12pm ET: “Members
First: Making Customer Service our Priority” featuring The MLC’s Head of Customer
Experience Lindsey Major and Head of Publisher Relations Maurice
Russell (Register Here)
- Thursday, October 29 at 11am CT/ 12pm ET: “Engaging International,
Educational and Third-Party Partners” featuring The MLC’s Head of Third-Party
Partnerships Dae Bogan, Head of International Relations Indi Chawla,
and Head of Educational Partnerships Serona Elton (Register Here)
- Friday, October 30 at 11am CT/ 12pm ET: “What’s Next: A Vision for the
Future” featuring The MLC CEO
Kris Ahrend and Music Business Association President Portia Sabin (Register Here)
For more
information about MLC Week, to register for additional events, and to
download social media sharegraphics to promote your support for
The MLC, visit www.themlc.com/mlc-week.
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