Noctil leverages The MLC’s public musical works database 24 Oct 2025
Noctil leverages The MLC’s public musical works database to give its users the ability to view The MLC’s data for unmatched sound recording products and musical works with unclaimed shares within the Noctil platform
The latest in a series of strategic announcements from Noctil, following launch of OrgLink and the hire of Fiona Ham, demonstrating the company’s commitment to improving data across the industry
Noctil, the leading no-code metadata platform for the music and audiovisual industries, has leveraged the Mechanical Licensing Collective’s (The MLC) publicly available musical works database to give its users the ability to view The MLC’s data for unmatched sound recording products and musical works with unclaimed shares within the Noctil platform.
The new feature leverages The MLC’s public data, made available under the U.S. Music Modernization Act (MMA), and complements The MLC’s existing efforts to provide unprecedented transparency to rightsholders. Through The MLC’s Portal, Members can already search and review unmatched recordings, submit proposed matches of their works to unmatched usage, and claim unclaimed shares of works directly with The MLC — all at no cost. Noctil now allows its users to view that same public data in Noctil’s platform, supporting efficiency and alignment across systems.
As the exclusive administrator of the blanket compulsory mechanical license available to eligible digital service providers (DSPs) for U.S. interactive streaming and download services, The MLC has built and maintains one of the world’s largest databases of musical works ownership information — which contains data for more than 50 million songs — and has achieved total royalties distributed of over $3 billion, at no cost to rightsholders.
Through this new feature, users of Noctil’s platform can search for unmatched sound recording products and musical works that have unclaimed shares and then take action directly through The MLC. Those entitled to collect mechanical royalties for musical works can become Members of The MLC—completely free of charge—and use The MLC’s growing suite of tools to propose matches for unmatched sound recordings and claim unclaimed shares of registered works, helping ensure they receive all the royalties they’ve earned.
This new offering marks another significant step in Noctil's mission to build a global infrastructure for the music and audiovisual industries and deliver cleaner, more accurate data for all rightsholders. This follows a period of notable growth and strategic development for the company, including the recent launch of OrgLink, a new feature for hierarchical account structuring and metadata governance, and the appointment of Fiona Ham as VP, Metadata Partnerships. Ham’s role is specifically designed to forge the critical partnerships required to resolve metadata conflicts and accelerate royalty payments.
Jacob Varghese, Founder and CEO of Noctil, said: “This direct link with The MLC’s database is a game-changer for our clients. By directly connecting them to the very data that highlights where money is being left on the table, we're empowering them to take control of their catalogs and maximize their revenues. This is a crucial piece of our strategy to provide the industry with a comprehensive, global solution for data management and rights administration, and we are just getting started.”
Noctil has previously announced that its platform has processed over 100 million sound recordings, supported 100,000+ catalog registrations, and enabled 50,000 rightsholders to get paid over the past five years.
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THE HEADLINES
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Do pop stars write their own hits—and if not, who does? (see Analysis)
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King Gizzard, having pulled music from Spotify in protest, find genAI clones on the platform (see Digital)
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Martin Mills is trying to thwart a record industry takeover by Universal (see Features)
IMPF says members should reject AI deals that do not value songs properly (see News)
Which songs do we replay the most? (see Analysis)
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EU touring: Impact of Brexit worsening, says UK Music report (see Reports)
