Apple Music accounts for $164 million of $424 million in music roaylites

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) says it’s received a total of US$424,384,787 in accrued “historical unmatched royalties from digital service providers (DSPs)” such as Apple Music.

In fact, Apple’s streaming service accounted for $163,338,890 of that figure as of February 11, 2021. It provided the most royalties of any streaming service with Spotify coming in second with $152,226,039.

The MLC is responsible for administering the new blanket compulsory license for the use of musical works by digital music services. As of January 2021, mechanical royalties from streaming in the U.S. will be processed and paid out by The MLC at no cost to songwriters or music publishers.