Merlin annual payouts to independent members worldwide 2012-2019
Digital rights agency Merlin paid out 845 million U.S. dollars to its independent members from 2018 to 2019, marking a steep rise compared to the 518 million paid out the prior year. Merlin collects digital royalty revenues for over 20,000 independent record labels, and has a significant influence in the digital music market worldwide. The amount of money paid in the 2018/2019 period was 20 times higher than the figure for years 2012 to 2013, which saw the company paying just 42 million U.S. dollars to its members.