Of the $397M handed over in 2021, the MLC has matched over $317M and paid out nearly $239M. The first market-share payout of other unmatched money starts in April 2027.
The MLC says it has matched “over $317 million (nearly 80 percent)” of the historical royalties and distributed “nearly $239 million (over 60 percent)”.
The other two parts of the bar are our arithmetic on those rounded statements, so they are approximate: about $78M matched but not yet paid, and about $80M still unmatched. The second is an upper bound, because the MLC says “over” $317M.
Total $397.29M, as transferred after the rate adjustments.
* Derived from the MLC's rounded statements (“over $317M matched”, “nearly $239M distributed”): matched not yet paid ≈ 317 − 239; still unmatched ≈ 397.29 − 317, an upper bound.
Matching a royalty to a work is one step; paying it is another. The money not yet distributed includes matched royalties nobody has claimed yet, disputed shares and money on hold, as well as royalties still unmatched.
None of the historical money has been shared out by market share. The MLC says “no such distributions have been made to date”.
The first market-share distribution starts in April 2027 with January 2021 usage, one month of usage per monthly distribution. It covers the blanket licence money from 2021 on. For January 2021 the pool left is just over $6 million.
In 2021 the US Copyright Office recommended that the first such distribution wait at least five years from when claiming in the portal is available with full functionality.
Market share pays each rightsholder in proportion to its existing share of usage. The largest catalogues receive the largest amounts, from songs they do not own. A writer whose song stays unmatched loses that song's share.
Search an artist, writer or producer, or upload a distributor report to check every streamed song.