The MLC recognized as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in Music for its innovation, excellence, and impact on the music industry.
NASHVILLE, TN – The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025. This selection reflects The MLC’s dedication to driving innovation, which has enabled it to transform the way rights are administered in the music industry. 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 serves as the exclusive administrator of the blanket compulsory mechanical license available to eligible digital service providers (DSPs) for their U.S. interactive streaming and download services. Now in its fifth year of operations, The MLC has enrolled more than 55,000 Members, compiled one of the world’s largest databases of musical works ownership information — which contains data for more than 45 million songs — and achieved total royalties distributed of nearly $3 billion, at no cost to songwriters or music publishers. Since April 2021 when it completed its first monthly royalty distribution, The MLC has completed every one of its 48 monthly royalty distributions on time or early. Born from the historic Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018, The MLC was officially designated by the U.S. Copyright Office in 2019.
The World’s Most Innovative Companies list honors organizations across industries that have made significant contributions through creativity, innovation, and forward-thinking strategies. The MLC offers a growing suite of data management tools that provide its Members with unprecedented transparency and empower them to manage their rights more effectively. It has established partnerships with a number of leading technology companies to help support its industry-leading matching efforts, while providing groundbreaking access to its public database via a weekly bulk data subscription program and public search API. The MLC has also made service a hallmark of its operations, quickly establishing itself as a leader in customer service within the music industry. Thanks to these efforts and more, The MLC has revolutionized the administration of rights and royalties in the music industry — after only four full years of operations.
“We are incredibly honored and grateful to be recognized by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies,” said Kris Ahrend, CEO of The MLC. “The MLC was established by Congress to transform the way rights in the music industry are administered in the United States. From the beginning, our team has risen to that challenge and strived to fulfill this shared vision for the benefit of songwriters and their music publishing partners. With this recognition, we reaffirm our commitment to serve and empower our Members, enhance transparency, and drive innovation.”
To view the Most Innovative Companies in Music, click here. For the complete list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies honorees, visit www.fastcompany.com. For more information about The MLC, visit www.themlc.com.
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