Music Licensing Collective (MLC) Coalition
Unveils Broad Support for Copyright Office Submission
Announces Board and Committee Members and Launches Songwriter Petition
Nashville, TN (February 4, 2019) – The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the Songwriters of North America (SONA), National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), today unveiled broad endorsements for their industry-consensus Music Licensing Collective (MLC) submission to the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO).
The submission, which will be filed by March 21st, creates the collective required by the Music Modernization Act (MMA) to license and administer mechanical rights. Additionally, the groups announced the MLC Board and Committee appointments and launched a website for all of the songwriters and artists who support the MLC to sign an official petition: SupporttheMLC.com and a site for music publishers to add their endorsements: SongConnect.org.
The Music Modernization Act (MMA) requires that the MLC is “endorsed by, and enjoys substantial support from, musical work copyright owners that together represent the greatest percentage of the licensor market.”
Today, the overwhelming majority of musical works owners in the U.S. have voiced support for the MLC submission, and joining them are performance rights organizations, record labels and many other organizations including the boards of the NSAI and SONA:
NSAI: Steve Bogard (President), Rhett Akins, Tony Arata, Jim Beavers, Roger Brown, Jeff Cohen, Corey Crowder, Chris DeStefano, Beckie Foster, Nicolle Galyon, Ben Glover, Connie Harrington, Byron Hill, Brett James, Lee Miller, Tim Nichols, Gary Nicholson, Josh Osborne, Rivers Rutherford, Liz Rose, Jenn Schott, Anthony Smith, Caitlyn Smith, Bobby Tomberlin, Troy Verges, Danny Wells and Jimmy Yeary.
SONA: Michelle Lewis and Kay Hanley (Co Executive Directors), Adam Dorn, Michelle Featherstone, Adam Gorgoni, Jack Kugell, Pam Sheyne, Brendan Okrent and Shelly Peiken.
Other endorsements include: NMPA, NSAI, SONA plus:
"And the Writer Is" | A2iM | ABKCO | AIMP (NY, Nashville, LA) | Altadena/ busbee | Americana Music Association | APM Music | ASCAP | Atlas Music Publishing | believe | Bienstock Empire, Inc. | Big Deal Music | Big Machine Music | BMG |BMI | CMPA | Concord Music | Creative Future | Demi Music | Disney Music Publishing | Downtown Music Publishing | Fox Music | GMR |HoriPro Entertainment | Kobalt Music | Leeds Music | Lipservices Music | Major Bob Music | MPA |MPL | NARAS | ole | peermusic | PEN Music Group | PMA | Pulse Music Group | Reach Music Publishing | Reel Muzik Werks | Reservoir | RIAA |Ross Golan | Round Hill Music | Sea Gayle Music | SESAC |Shapiro Bernstein & Co.| Sony Music | Sony/ATV, EMI | SoundExchange |Spirit Music Group | Ten Music Group | The Administration MP, Inc. | The Copyright Alliance | The Gospel Music Association | The Royalty Network | Third Side Music | TRO Essex Music Group | TuneCore |UMPG | Universal Music Group | Warner Music Group | Warner/Chappell | Wixen Music Publishing | Wonderlous Music | Wrensong
The MLC Board and Committee appointments are:
MLC BOARD: Songwriters include Kara DioGuardi – York, ME; Oak Felder – Los Angeles, CA; Kevin Kadish – Brentwood, TN; and Tim Nichols – Nashville, TN. Music Publishers include Jeff Brabec, BMG; Peter Brodsky, Sony/ATV; Bob Bruderman, Kobalt; Tim Cohan, peermusic; Alisa Coleman, ABKCO; Scott Cutler, Pulse Music Group; Paul Kahn, Warner Chappell Music; David Kokakis, Universal Music Publishing; Mike Molinar, Big Machine Music; Evelyn Paglinawan, Concord Music
UNCLAIMED FUNDS COMMITTEE: Songwriters include Michael Busbee – Altadena, CA; Kay Hanley – Toluca Lake, CA; David Lowery – Athens, GA; Dan Navarro – Los Angeles, CA and Tom Shapiro – Franklin, TN. Music Publishers include Phil Ciadella, Atlas Music Publishing; Patrick Curley; Third Side Music; Michael Eames, PEN Music Group; Frank Liwall, The Royalty Network, Inc.; and Kathryn Ostien, The Richmond Organization (TRO).
DISPUTE RESOLUTION COMMITTEE: Songwriters include Aimèe Allen – New York, NY; Odie Blackmon – Nashville, TN; Gary Burr – Nashville, TN; David Hodges – Nashville, TN and Jennifer Schott – Nashville, TN. Music Publishers include Alison Koerper, Disney Music; Ed Leonard, Daywind; Sean McGraw, Downtown, Debbie Rose, Shapiro Bernstein and Jason Rys, Wixen Music.
OPERATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Joe Conyers III, Songtrust; Scott Farrant, Kobalt; Rell LaFargue, Reservoir Media Management; and Michael Lau, Round Hill Music.
Digital companies will also name representatives to this committee.
The Board and Committee seats were designated by the MMA, and the selections were chosen by two advisory groups.
The songwriter advisory panel included: Steve Bogard (NSAI), Dallas Davidson (BMI), Chris DeStefano (NSAI), Bob DiPiero (BMI), Dan Foliart (ASCAP), Adam Gorgoni (SONA), Michelle Lewis (SONA), Paul Williams (ASCAP), Lynn Gillespie Chater (SGA)
The publisher advisory group included: Kenny MacPherson (Big Deal), Teri Nelson Carpenter (Reel Muzik Werks), Caroline Bienstock (Bienstock Empire, Inc.), Julie Lipsius (Lipservices), John Ozier (ole), Matt Pincus
NSAI President Steve Bogard:
“The Music Licensing Collective (MLC) will be constructed in a way historically beneficial to American songwriters – from the way unclaimed funds are required by law to be distributed based on a songwriter’s activity, to the MLC being funded by streaming services, therefore paying songwriters 100 cents on the dollar on digital mechanical royalties. The writers and composers chosen for the board and MLC committees represent the absolute best in our profession and the endorsements we’ve already received speak volumes about the confidence the American music industry has in the MLC.”
NSAI and SONA: “Songwriters can go to www.supportthemlc.com to offer their endorsement of the entity that will oversee licensing of digital mechanical rights for American songwriters. We’ve worked for decades for the benefits the MLC will bring songwriters/composers, including licensing their digital mechanical royalties at no cost since the streaming music companies have agreed to fund the collective. NSAI, SONA and NMPA worked on the Music Modernization Act for years, guided its adoption and believe we are the best group in terms of expertise and experience to undertake the challenge of building a new mechanical licensing entity. The music industry and American songwriters assisted us in ensuring passage of the MMA and we are confident they will agree that the Music Licensing Collective, created by our organizations and NMPA, should be the agency controlling licensing of their copyrights.”
NMPA President & CEO David Israelite: “Our Mechanical Licensing Collective submission provides a comprehensive roadmap to the Copyright Office to establish the first collective of its kind. The MLC will give songwriters the money they deserve and the transparency they’ve lacked for decades. The board and committee members are the best in the business and the vast endorsements come from the many coalition members who were instrumental in the passage of the MMA. We look forward to continuing in the USCO’s designation process and the day we can finally say songwriters have the representation they’ve earned.”