Royalties
Mechanical Royalties
Mechanical royalties are paid to songwriters and publishers each time a composition is reproduced — including every interactive stream and download.
Mechanicals used to mean physical copies (vinyl, CDs); today they're generated every time a song is streamed or downloaded. Each interactive stream pays a small mechanical royalty on the composition, calculated from the streaming service's licensing agreements.
In the US, mechanicals for streaming are administered by The MLC. Matching them to the right songwriter depends on accurate registration data — which is exactly where royalties go unclaimed, and what Notes fixes.
Good to know
Mechanical Royalties: common questions
- Who collects mechanical royalties in the US?
- The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) administers streaming mechanicals in the US under the Music Modernization Act.
- Why do mechanicals go unclaimed?
- When a composition is missing an ISWC or correct registration, the collector can't match the royalty to its owner, so it sits as unmatched income. Notes fills those gaps.
