Music Business Worldwide: The MLC lands on Fast Company’s list of World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), the entity that collects mechanical royalties in the US from digital service providers, has been named among Fast Company’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025.

The milestone comes some six months after the Nashville-based organization announced it had collected and distributed some $2.5 billion in royalties since its inception.

The 2018 Music Modernization Act (MMA) led to the formation of The MLC, tasking it with managing blanket mechanical licenses issued to eligible streaming services operating in the US, such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

The recognition comes as the music industry continues to tackle the complexities of rights management in the digital streaming era.

“This selection also recognizes The MLC’s commitment to excellence and its passion for service, which have ensured that the songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers it serves receive their mechanical royalties from streaming and download services in the United States accurately and on time,” The MLC said in a statement on Wednesday (March 19).

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What are the regulations and where can one find the full text of the rates and terms for Phono 4?

The CRB published a Final Rule in the U.S. Federal Register setting the blanket license mechanical royalty rates for permanent digital downloads.

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