“Unclaimed Melody: Are You Missing Out On Your Streaming Mechanical Royalties?”

Date/Time
Date(s) -

10/14/2025

Location
Zoom

Billions of dollars in streaming mechanical royalties have been distributed to songwriters and publishers through The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), yet many creators are still missing out on money they’ve earned. This panel brings together perspectives from songwriters, publishers, and The MLC to unpack the current system—and explore how publishers can better support their writers, while helping self-administered songwriters ensure they’re paid.

Moderator:
Tara Austin | Owner/Creative Director, Sync, Austintatious Tunes

Panelists:
Michael Eames | President, PEN Music Group, Inc. / Chair, The MLC Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee
Serona Elton | Head of Educational Partnerships, The MLC
Brandon Jarrett | Television & Film Composer/Music Producer/Songwriter
Sean McNamara | Manager, Publisher Services, The MLC

Biographies

Tara Austin |Owner/Creative Director, Sync, Austintatious Tunes

Tara Austin is the Owner/Creative Director, Sync of Austintatious Tunes, specializing in sync clearance, licensing, and catalog administration. For the past decade, her company has represented the catalogs of The Music Goes Round, B.V. and Nanada Music, B.V. (The Netherlands) negotiating deals for hit evergreen titles such as “Venus,” “Hocus Pocus,” “I Swear,” and “Ain’t That a Kick In The Head,” and consulting for Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc. handling publishing administration for country artists Gary Allan, Eli Young Band, Terri Clark and Kellie Pickler.

A Recording Industry Management grad of MTSU, Tara started her career at Warner/Chappell Music, Nashville. After a 15 year tenure, she transitioned to indie label Equity Music Group as A&R Manager, working in artist development and publisher relations, with country artists Clint Black and Little Big Town. She expanded into music licensing for TV and Film projects while there, before moving to Third Tier Music, where she handled publishing administration and negotiated licenses for a diverse range of catalogs.

In 2010, Tara relocated to Los Angeles, establishing Austintatious Tunes and broadening her industry network. She has negotiated hundreds of deals working with major networks, movie trailers, video games franchises, and advertisements.

She is a current board member of The CCC and member of the AIMP and the Guild of Music Supervisors (FOG).

Michael Eames | President, PEN Music Group, Inc. / Chair, The MLC Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee 

Michael Eames is a trained composer, songwriter, and pianist who majored in music at Cornell University and completed the Certificate Program in Film Scoring at UCLA Extension; he also secured a minor in Business Management from Cornell.

As president of PEN Music Group, Inc. (celebrating its 30th anniversary this year), Michael oversees all aspects of the operation as well as focuses on pitching the catalogue to all media and business development. He was chosen to serve (along with 4 other independent music publishers and 5 songwriters) on the Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee (UROC) of The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) that commenced blanket mechanical licensing of the digital services in the U.S. on January 1, 2021 and currently serves as the UROC Chair. He also proudly serves on the Independent Publishers Advisory Council (IPAC) of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and on the Advisory Board of Songwriters Of North America (SONA).  He also previously served as the National President of the Association Of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) from 2015-2018 and served as its National Vice President from 2013-2014.

Immediately prior to starting PEN, Michael oversaw the international and film & TV departments of Don Williams Music Group where he was responsible for song catalogues such as Jimi Hendrix, Chicago, and Roy Orbison among numerous others. He also worked previously for Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and the management and music supervision firms The Derek Power Co and Seth Kaplan Entertainment.

Michael wrote the music publishing section of the Hal Leonard/Rowman & Littlefield-published book entitled Five Star Music Makeover: The Independent Artist’s Guide for Singers, Songwriters, Bands, Producers and Self Publishers (2016) and is co-author (with Bobby Borg) of the book Introduction To Music Publishing For Musicians whose 2nd Edition was published by Rowman & Littlefield in January 2025 and is already used in many curriculums around the U.S. He was accepted into Leadership Music’s Class of 2025 and is a frequent guest speaker in both real and virtual classrooms, festivals and panel discussions worldwide.

Serona Elton | Head of Educational Partnerships, The MLC

Serona Elton serves as Head of Educational Partnerships for The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC). In this role, Elton directs The MLC’s efforts to engage future members of the music industry currently studying music business and related subjects at colleges and universities across the country and around the world.

With extensive experience as a music industry professional and educator, Elton is also a professor and Director of the Music Industry Program at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. In 2023, she was named Music Business Educator of the Year by the Music Business Association. She is also a Yamaha Master Educator.

Elton has worked for or with many top music companies including Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group, as an expert in licensing and royalties. She is co-author of the book Music Business Handbook and Career Guide (13th edition), and has contributed to news stories for NPR’s Marketplace, CNN.com, The New York Times, Billboard and other outlets.

Elton currently serves as the Director-at-Large on the AMS Board of Directors. She has served as a president of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA), as a trustee of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., as the chair of the Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Section, and on the Recording Academy, Florida Chapter, Board of Governors. She is also an alumnus of the Nashville-based Leadership Music program, and a licensed attorney in New York and Florida.

Brandon Jarrett | Television & Film Composer/Music Producer/Songwriter

Brandon Jarrett is an award-winning Songwriter, Film/TV composer, and producer whose lifelong journey with music began in Queens, New York. Born into a family deeply rooted in the entertainment industry, Brandon spent his early years traveling extensively with his family, performing and experiencing diverse cultures across the United States, Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands.
From a young age, Brandon immersed himself in music. By the age of ten, he was studying drums, flute, piano, and voice. During his teenage years—while also excelling as an all-star football player—he deepened his musical expertise by apprenticing at Face Productions Studios in Las Vegas. There, he began developing his skills in digital music production and composition, setting the foundation for what would become a prolific career in music for film, television, and recording artists.

After attending UNLV, Brandon and his brother Jason formed the pop duo My Brother and Me. Following in their parents’ footsteps, they toured the Western United States extensively, performing six nights a week, 45 weeks a year for three years. Their momentum culminated in the recording of their debut album at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, firmly establishing Brandon in the Los Angeles music scene—where he instantly felt at home.

Brandon has scored more than 50 films that can currently be seen on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Stars, Hallmark Channel, and more. Because of his background in writing and producing pop records, Brandon has developed the unique ability to combine orchestral and electronic music and utilize melodies in a way that connects the story to the audience. This experience also gave him the skills to write and produce original songs for soundtracks and has led him to projects such as producing records for Ashley Argota Torres (All American, The Fosters) and Amber Montana (Netflix Series: Spirit, Nickelodeon’s The Haunted Hathaways’).

In July 2025, Brandon was honored with the Best Adult Contemporary Song award at the Hollywood Independent Music Awards for a song he co-wrote with his friend and mentor Allan Rich—a celebrated songwriter known for writing timeless hits for Whitney Houston, NSYNC, Chaka Khan and so many more. This recognition marks a significant milestone in Brandon’s evolution as an artist and songwriter. Above all, Brandon’s passion for music is deeply personal. It is only rivaled by the love he holds for his wife, daughter, and two sons. Whether he’s scoring a film, producing a track, or writing a song, Brandon approaches each project with joy, gratitude, and a sense of purpose—grateful to live out his dream every single day.

Sean McNamara | Manager, Publisher Services, The MLC

Sean McNamara serves as Manager, Publisher Services for the Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), where he plays a key role in managing relationships with music publishers to support The MLC’s mission of ensuring songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers receive their mechanical royalties from streaming and download services in the U.S. accurately and on time. In this role, Sean serves as a primary liaison between The MLC and publishers, ensuring clear communication, addressing concerns and providing guidance to help publishers successfully navigate the landscape of digital music royalties. He also works closely with internal teams to streamline operational processes and helps monitor The MLC’s monthly royalty distributions to publishers and songwriters. To date, The MLC has distributed over $2 billion in total royalties to its 45,000+ Members.

Prior to joining The MLC, Sean served as Performance Rights Manager for The Orchard, where he worked closely with global performance collection societies to identify royalty growth opportunities, streamline workflows, and foster relationships with international media licensors, while also overseeing the timely delivery of millions of lines of new release metadata. Before The Orchard, Sean spent nearly 5 years at Harry Fox Agency, where he worked with publishers, songwriters, and record labels of all sizes, refining his expertise in music publishing, licensing, and content monetization.

Sean holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Industry Studies from Loyola University New Orleans and resides in Nashville, TN.

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