The Mechanical Licensing Collective has partnered with the Recording Academy to host a dozen webinars across the country to educate chapter members of the MLCs mandate to match and distribute unpaid royalties to rights holders.
Each webinar will be tailored to a specific market, including Nashville, New York City and Los Angeles, and will be hosted by MLC representatives who will give a full rundown on the importance of the new agency, which recently made its first distribution of mechanical royalties to rights holders.
"We are thrilled to work with the Academy on this webinar series, which builds on our ongoing efforts to reach as many potential MLC Members as possible, provide them with the information they need to join our organization and help position themselves to receive the digital audio mechanical royalties they have earned and deserve," said Kris Ahrend, CEO of The MLC.
Added Daryl P. Friedman, chief advocacy officer of the Recording Academy: "Academy members were so active in passage of the Music Modernization Act, they should now benefit from The MLC that the Act created. We're pleased to partner with The MLC to reach our membership of creators far and wide and ultimately get royalties into their hands."
The first webinar took place on Tuesday (May 4) for Memphis members, while across the state in Nashville an event is slated for May 17. Academy members will receive a registration link in advance of their local webinar. See the full list below:
Memphis Chapter / May 4
Nashville Chapter / May 17, 2 p.m. CT
Chicago Chapter / May 25, 11:30 a.m. CT
San Francisco Chapter / May 25, 5:30 p.m. PT
Philadelphia Chapter / May 26, 4 p.m. ET
New York Chapter / June 8, 12:30 p.m. ET
Pacific Northwest Chapter / June 15, 3 p.m. PT
Texas Chapter / June 16, 3:30 p.m. CT
Los Angeles Chapter / June 16, TIME TBD
Florida Chapter / June 23, 12:30 p.m. ET
Atlanta Chapter / July 29, 2 p.m. ET
At the BTS concert in Tokyo on Friday (April 17), j-hope opened up to ARMY with heartbreaking news. His grandmother, who played a major role in raising him and had always been proud of his journey with the group, has passed away.
Speaking to the packed crowd at the Tokyo Dome, the K-pop star chose to be open with fans about what he was going through. “Honestly, this might be a bit of a heavy thing to share, but I really wanted to express how I’m feeling today,” he said, translated from Korean into English. “Right after we arrived in Japan, I got the news that my maternal grandmother, the one who raised me from when I was little, had passed away.”
“I felt completely stunned and did not really know how to process it at first, but being around the members, sitting down together for meals, and focusing on rehearsals helped me more than I thought it would,” j-hope went on. “My grandmother was always incredibly proud, not just of me but of all the members. She truly believed in what we do. So I feel like if she was watching from above today, she would have loved every second of it.”
He closed by thanking the audience for making his first performance after the loss feel meaningful and full of support.
BTS are currently touring in support of their new album ARIRANG, which has just earned a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Following three opening shows in Goyang, South Korea, the group is set to perform twice at the Tokyo Dome before heading abroad for the North American leg. Before the tour wraps in March next year, they will also visit Latin America, Europe, Australia, and several other regions across Asia.
On the same day as the first Tokyo concert, j-hope’s solo interview with Rolling Stone was released. During the conversation, he spoke about stepping into a leadership presence within the group. “I think that’s my role on the team,” he shared. “It just comes naturally. It feels strange to even call it a role, but I just try to handle things as they come and support the other members in any way I can.”
Additional reporting from Billboard Korea.
