(Below is a copy of this year’s main annual distribution letter, which contains details related to the distribution and other information about the Fund.)

August 3, 2026

Dear Participating Musician:

We are pleased to enclose a check for your portion of the distribution from the Sound Recording Special Payments Fund (“Fund”) for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2026. Also enclosed, for your reference, is a statement of your reported scale wages, if any, for calendar year 2025. Please note, the check is only valid for ninety days from the issuance date, so you must cash or deposit it by October 30, 2026.

The Fund’s total distribution this year is $9,075,000, or about 11% less than last year. This is the first decrease after four consecutive years of increases and is mainly due to lower contributions on streamed sound recordings. We have no reason to believe that this is the beginning of a trend and are cautiously optimistic based on independent market indicators that the North American digital streaming market will expand this year, resulting in contribution increases during the current fiscal year.

To ensure the Fund’s long-term success, we have spent the past year building a secure, customized system to manage the core business of the Fund using modern technology to replace our 20-year-old legacy software. This system, which we expect to be operational early next year, will allow us to serve you better by processing and delivering your distribution payments faster. It will also help our staff to resolve your inquiries more rapidly, as they will be able to view your entire account history―including prior years’ distributions, scale wage history, beneficiary designations, and tax documents―in one centralized location.

As always, I encourage you to visit the Fund’s website, where registered participants can update their address, designate beneficiaries, submit direct deposit account information (U.S. banks only) and go-paperless. The website also remains the best place to get important information about the Fund and answers to your frequently asked questions.

Please also be sure to visit our “Do We Have Money For You?” webpage. There, you can check whether there are unclaimed payments due to you or others from any of the Fund’s three distributions (Main-annual, Traditional Music Video and Sampling).

Warmest regards,

V. Robert DiPaola

V. Robert DiPaola
Fund Administrator