Mechanical Licensing and the MLC
A mechanical royalty is paid whenever a composition is reproduced. That used to mean a vinyl pressing, a CD run, a cassette. Today it mostly means a stream — every play on Spotify or Apple Music triggers a tiny mechanical royalty on top of the performance royalty.
If you wrote a song (or co-wrote one), mechanicals are a second royalty stream, completely separate from performance royalties. In most territories they are handled by a separate organization. In the US, that organization is The MLC.
What a mechanical is
Every song has two kinds of copyright:
- Composition copyright — the songwriting. Owned by writers and publishers.
- Recording copyright — the actual audio. Owned by artists or labels.
Mechanical royalties are paid on the composition side. Every time a reproduction of the composition is made — physical, download, or digital stream — mechanicals are due.
On streaming specifically, the mechanical royalty is a statutory rate in the US (currently around 15.35% of the gross) and negotiated-per-service elsewhere. Split roughly 50/50 between the writer and the publisher of the composition. If you are self-published, you collect both halves.
Why mechanicals are easy to miss
On most streaming platforms, the performance royalty and the mechanical royalty are paid separately to different destinations:
- Performance royalty → your PRO → you
- Mechanical royalty → The MLC (US) or a local mechanical society → you
If you are only registered with a PRO, you are leaving mechanical royalties behind. In the US specifically, many independent writers still have money sitting in unmatched pools at The MLC because they have never claimed their works.
The MLC (United States)
The Mechanical Licensing Collective was created by the Music Modernization Act of 2018 to fix a broken system. It is the single entity responsible for issuing blanket mechanical licenses to digital services (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube, and similar) and distributing those royalties to songwriters and publishers.
Key things to know:
- It is free to register. Writers and publishers can join at themlc.com. No upfront fees.
- It covers US digital mechanical royalties only. Physical sales and international territories are separate.
- It pays monthly. More frequent than most PROs.
- It holds unmatched funds. A significant pool of royalties sits unpaid because nobody has claimed the matching works. Claiming them is free but requires paperwork.
Every US-based independent writer should register with The MLC, either directly or through their publishing admin.
If you have a publishing admin
Most publishing admins (Songtrust, Sentric, Kobalt, and similar) handle MLC registration automatically as part of their service. Before registering directly, check whether your admin already represents you at The MLC. If they do, registering again will create a duplicate and cause problems.
Ways to check:
- Log into your admin dashboard, look for "Societies" or "Collectors" and confirm The MLC is listed.
- Search for your works at portal.themlc.com — if they appear, you are already registered through your admin.
- Ask your admin directly. They should be able to confirm in one email.
If you do not have a publishing admin, register directly with The MLC yourself. It is free and reasonably straightforward.
Outside the US
Every major music market has a mechanical rights society:
- United Kingdom — MCPS, administered by PRS for Music. Usually bundled with your PRS registration.
- Germany — GEMA handles both performance and mechanical.
- France — SACEM handles both.
- Nordics — NCB handles mechanical across Nordic territories, administered by STIM/KODA/TONO/Teosto.
- Japan — JASRAC.
- Canada — CMRRA.
In most territories, joining your PRO also registers you with the local mechanical society. The US is unusual in that performance and mechanical are split between different bodies.
Your publishing admin should register you globally. If you don't have one, you will need to handle each society separately, which is why admin deals pay for themselves quickly.
What you need to register a work
To get mechanical royalties paid, every work needs:
- Title
- Every writer with their IPI number
- Each writer's split (must sum to 100%)
- Publisher for each writer
- ISRC (for the specific recordings that got released)
- Release information (date, label, distributor)
Incomplete registrations sit in an unmatched queue. At The MLC, that queue is massive, and money in it gets distributed market-share style if it remains unmatched after several years — which means the major publishers get most of it.
Common mistakes
Thinking your PRO handles mechanicals in the US. It does not. The MLC is a completely separate organization in the US. In other countries, a single society often handles both, but not in the US.
Registering at The MLC when your admin already has. Duplicate registrations get flagged and frozen. Check first.
Missing co-writer data. If a collaborator is not registered, the work cannot be matched on the mechanical side.
Ignoring the unmatched pool. Past-dated royalties sit at The MLC waiting to be claimed. If you have old releases, check whether any of your works are in the unmatched list at portal.themlc.com/unmatched.
What to do this quarter
- Check whether your publishing admin already represents you at The MLC.
- If not, register directly at themlc.com. It is free.
- Register every released work and every future work.
- Search the unmatched works portal for any of your old titles that might have royalties waiting.
- For territories outside the US, confirm your PRO covers mechanicals automatically, or use a publishing admin to cover the gaps.
Mechanical royalties are one of the most under-collected revenue streams for independent writers. The fix is paperwork, not talent.
Score your full royalty setup in 5 minutes. The free Music Industry Readiness Check scores mechanical coverage alongside PRO membership, publishing admin, ISWC registration, and neighbouring rights — and tells you what to fix first. No signup required.