Every time someone streams or downloads your song on streaming platforms, somebody owes you a mechanical royalty. It is one of the most straightforward royalties in music — a set payment for each reproduction of your composition — and it is also one of the most commonly left unclaimed by independent artists.
A mechanical royalty is paid to the songwriter and publisher every time their composition is reproduced or distributed. That includes every stream, every download, every CD pressed, and every vinyl record shipped. On streaming, the US rate works out to roughly 12 cents per 100 streams — small per play, but it compounds across a catalog and millions of plays.
Here is where indies lose money: in the United States, mechanical royalties are collected by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), not by your distributor. DistroKid, TuneCore, and CD Baby pay you the recording royalties, but the MLC holds the mechanical money separately. If you have not registered your songs with the MLC, your mechanicals sit unclaimed — and unclaimed money eventually gets redistributed to the major publishers who are registered.
How to claim what is yours
Register every song you wrote at the MLC — it is free. List yourself as songwriter and, if you have not signed a publishing deal, as publisher too. Then match your recordings to your works so the MLC can link streams to your catalog. Also register with a performance rights organization like ASCAP or BMI for the performance side — mechanicals and performance royalties are separate income streams from the same plays.
The takeaway: your publishing is worth money even without a publisher. Register, match, and collect. Unregistered songs are just donations to the majors.
About the Author – Ruben Burgos: Ruben Burgos brings over 25 years of music expertise and more than 15 years of model guidance to the table. He is the indie major pinnacle to retaining credits for musicians and helping them navigate this wicked industry without the fuckery.