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A mechanical royalty is paid to the songwriter and publisher every time a song is reproduced — historically on vinyl and CD, and today every time it is downloaded or streamed. Yes, streaming generates a mechanical royalty too, separate from the performance royalty a PRO collects. Mechanicals are part of your publishing income, and many independent artists never collect them.
Why streaming has a mechanical royalty
When a streaming service plays your song, it both performs it (a performance royalty) and reproduces it by serving a copy (a mechanical royalty). So one stream actually pays out three ways: the recording royalty (via your distributor), the performance royalty (via your PRO), and the mechanical royalty (via a mechanical collector). If you only have a distributor, you are missing two of the three.
How mechanicals are collected by country
| Region | Who collects digital mechanicals |
|---|---|
| United States | The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) |
| United Kingdom | MCPS (administered with PRS for Music) |
| Most other countries | The national collection society, which often handles both performance and mechanical |
| India | IPRS administers the mechanical share for compositions |
The US: register with The MLC (it's free)
The Mechanical Licensing Collective was created by the US Music Modernization Act and launched in 2021 to collect digital mechanical royalties from streaming services. Membership is free. You join, then register your works in the Member Hub so the MLC can match your songs to the streams they receive. The MLC also runs a Missing Member Lookup — there is a large pool of unmatched mechanical money waiting for rightsholders who never registered. If you have US streams, joining the MLC is essential.
The simplest way to collect mechanicals everywhere
Registering with every country's mechanical society yourself is impractical. This is exactly what a publishing administrator does: it registers your works with The MLC, MCPS, and societies worldwide, and collects your mechanicals globally for a percentage. For most independent artists with international streams, that is the realistic option.
India note
In India, IPRS administers both the performance and mechanical share of compositions, so joining IPRS and registering your works covers the domestic mechanical side. See collecting publishing royalties in India for the full walkthrough.