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The CEO of the Mechanical Licensing Collective, Kris Ahrend, earned close to $700,000 in 2022, as per recently disclosed tax information. Photo Credit: Mackenzie Marco
The CEO of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), Kris Ahrend, earned nearly $700,000 in 2022, while other top executives also received substantial salaries, according to newly revealed tax documents. The MLC’s federal tax filings for 2022 have just been made public, providing insight into the compensation of key figures including Kris Ahrend, CFO Ilene Weintraub, chief legal officer Kristen Johns, and chief marketing officer Ellen Truley, among others. These IRS disclosures, shared with Digital Music News, are the most recent financial disclosures from the non-profit organization.
Looking at the specific numbers, Ahrend’s total salary for 2022 stood at $699,449, with $664,383 as core pay from the MLC and an additional $35,066 attributed to other compensation from the organization and related entities. It is no surprise that Ahrend earned more than any other executive at the MLC during that year.
On the other hand, Weintraub received a total of $506,175 in compensation, Johns earned $398,498, and Truley took home a sizable $362,861 as per the filings. Calculated on a weekly basis, Ahrend’s salary amounts to $13,451 per week, translating to over $336 per hour based on the assumed average of 40 hours per week that he worked.
Key Executives’ Salaries at the MLC in 2022
- CEO Kris Ahrend – $699,449
- CFO Ilene Weintraub – $506,175
- Chief legal officer Kristen Johns – $398,498
- Chief marketing officer Ellen Truley – $362,861
- Head of rights management Maurice Russell – $304,300
- Head of analytics and automation Andrew Mitchell – $258,417
- Head of finance Monique Benjamin – $245,605
- Assistant general counsel Nathan Osher – $243,018
- Chief people officer Leigh McCorkle – $242,786
- CTO/CIO Richard Thompson – $230,290
While these salaries may not be considered exorbitant compared to some other government-mandated organizations where top officials earn even more than Ahrend, they are likely to attract criticism from certain sections within the music industry.
Appointed by the Copyright Office to oversee the blanket license established under the Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018, the MLC is a non-profit organization. It is worth noting that members of Congress earn $174,000 annually, while the president receives $400,000 per year, not factoring in their external income-generating activities.
Furthermore, the music industry’s probable reaction to these significant salaries is unlikely to be favorable, especially considering the growing amount of ‘black box’ royalties held by the MLC. As of 2022, these include $415.44 million in identified historical unmatched royalties, $143.99 million in blanket unmatched royalties, $107.95 million in blanket unclaimed royalties, and $6.17 million in blanket held royalties, all detailed in the tax disclosures.
So far, the status of this unpaid capital has raised concerns among lawmakers, with the ultimate fate of these funds, if they do not reach the rightful recipients, posing a potential controversy.
Against this backdrop, it is evident that the MLC’s financial practices warrant closer scrutiny and evaluation. » …
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