Doubly Blackbox Checker
Doubly Blackbox Checker - Check if any of the $656M in unclaimed royalties at The MLC is yours — free, no signup. SITE_META_DESC: Paste a Spotify link and see which of your recordings are unregistered or unclaimed at The MLC, and roughly what that's costing you. Free, no signup. SITE_BODY_TEXT: BLACKBOX BLACKBOX CHECKER
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What is Doubly Blackbox Checker?
Doubly Blackbox Checker - A free web utility that checks which recordings in a Spotify catalog are unregistered or unclaimed at The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) and estimates the potential lost mechanical royalties sitting in the industry's "black box." It helps songwriters and music professionals identify recordings at risk of losing accrued royalties when The MLC distributes unclaimed funds by market share beginning in 2027.
Doubly Blackbox Checker pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Free, no signup required
Doubly Blackbox Checker pros
- Completely free with no signup required
- Clear status categorization (Looks Good, Needs Matching, Missing Shares, Fully Unclaimed, Missing Work, Not in MLC data)
- Transparent calculation methodology with explanations of how estimates are derived
- Provides urgency context with countdown timer to first distribution of unclaimed royalties
- Helpful FAQ section explaining black box money and MLC matching requirements
Doubly Blackbox Checker cons
- Limited to Spotify catalog checking; does not integrate with other streaming services
- Estimates have ±35% margin of error and are orders of magnitude, not exact figures
- Identifies problems but does not provide direct solutions; resolution requires manual action through The MLC
- Only checks recordings already present in The MLC database; does not help with unregistered works
Frequently asked questions about Doubly Blackbox Checker
What is black box money?
Royalties from streams that cannot be matched to a registered work or claimed by the rightful owner. The money is collected but sits unallocated at The MLC until distributed by market share to already-collecting publishers and writers.
Why does my registered and claimed song show 'Needs matching'?
Registration is only half the equation. The MLC requires separate matches between each service's copy of a recording and the work. Your song on Spotify, Apple, and Pandora are three separate records in their database, each requiring its own match.
How is the estimated lost royalty amount calculated?
It uses Spotify stream counts, estimates what that means across all services, calculates the US mechanical royalty rate based on MLC distributions, and applies only the portion actually at risk based on unclaimed shares or unmatched recordings.