The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) announced the expansion of its Distributor Unmatched Recordings Portal (DURP), which now includes over 75 distributors, aggregators and other eligible sound recording distributors, representing over 2.8 million sound recordings. This expansion marks a milestone in The MLC's ongoing mission to support independent music creators and pay rightsholders their mechanical royalties accurately and on time.
The DURP allows distributors to see the publicly available data The MLC has compiled for unmatched royalties that relate to streams of sound recordings they have distributed, enabling them to work with their customers to register their songs with The MLC and claim any unmatched royalties for their songs that The MLC has accrued. Since its launch in 2022, the DURP has played a pivotal role in identifying and distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties to music creators globally.
Singer-songwriter, Kyle Hume, is among the many independent creators that have had mechanical royalties identified in the DURP. "The MLC helped me find money I had no idea that I had," says Hume. "As an independent artist, navigating the landscape of music royalties can be challenging. The MLC ensured I was receiving royalties I rightfully deserve."
Music producer and DJ, Attom, also discovered royalties through the DURP. "Thanks to The MLC, I found out I had mechanical royalties waiting for me,” says Attom. “It can be difficult to stay on top of everything, so it’s great being a member of The MLC, as they work to find songwriters and pay 100% of these royalties."
Dae Bogan, Head of Third-Party Partnerships at The MLC, leads the DURP initiative and emphasizes its significance. "The DURP exemplifies The MLC’s commitment to empowering independent music creators," says Bogan. "When we're able to share with rightsholders that we have royalties for them identified through the DURP, it serves as affirmation of their artistic contributions and a testament to the impact of The MLC’s mission."
Once a distributor is approved for a DURP account, they will get access to a custom dashboard that shows them the publicly available data for sound recordings they have distributed for which The MLC has accrued unmatched mechanical royalties. The information about these recordings is derived from usage reports delivered to The MLC from digital service providers (DSPs), which generally include the name of the sound recording distributor along with the other metadata those distributors have provided to the DSPs.
By making it easier for distributors to see the unmatched data for the sound recordings they have distributed, The MLC hopes that more distributors will share this information with their customers and encourage those customers to make sure their works are properly registered with The MLC. For more information about the DURP and to request access, visit www.themlc.com/durp.
