The MLC & Your Mechanical Royalties: How to Register and Collect (2026)

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The MLC mechanical royalties flowing from streaming services to songwriters
Composite from official venue website screenshots.

The MLC and Your Mechanical Royalties: How to Register and Collect What You’re Owed (2026)

If you write songs and your music is on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or any other U.S. streaming service, there is a pool of money with your name on it — and a large share of songwriters never claim it. The MLC mechanical royalties system exists precisely to fix that problem: the Mechanical Licensing Collective collects U.S. digital mechanical royalties from interactive streaming and pays them directly to the people who wrote the songs. The catch is simple but brutal — if you haven’t registered your works, The MLC has no way to match the money to you, and it sits unpaid.

This guide explains what The MLC is, who should register, exactly how to register with the MLC, and how mechanical royalties differ from the performance royalties your PRO collects and the sound-recording royalties SoundExchange handles. We’ll also cover the eye-watering pile of unclaimed mechanical royalties The MLC is still holding, and the honest answer to a question every independent artist asks: do you still need a publisher or admin if you join The MLC yourself? GMS doesn’t sell royalty services — we explain how the plumbing works so you can decide.

Table of Contents

1. What Is The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective)?

The MLC is a nonprofit organization designated by the U.S. Copyright Office and created under the Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018. It launched operations in 2021 with one core job: to administer the blanket mechanical license that lets streaming services reproduce musical compositions, collect the resulting mechanical royalties from those services, and pay them out to the songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers who own the songs.

Before The MLC existed, digital services struggled to identify and pay the correct songwriters for the millions of compositions streaming every day. The result was a backlog of unmatched money. The MLC was built to be the single, authoritative clearinghouse for U.S. digital audio mechanicals — meaning royalties from on-demand interactive streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, YouTube Music and similar) and certain downloads. Crucially, membership is free for rights holders; The MLC’s operating costs are funded by the digital services themselves, not by songwriters.

Music Modernization Act creating The MLC mechanical licensing collective
Screenshot from the official venue website.

2. What Are Mechanical Royalties, Exactly?

A song has two separate copyrights: the composition (the underlying melody, lyrics, and structure — owned by songwriters and publishers) and the sound recording (the specific recorded master — owned by the artist and/or label). A mechanical royalty is generated when the composition is reproduced — historically on a physical “mechanical” copy like a vinyl record or CD, and today every time a track is streamed or downloaded, because each stream creates a reproduction of the underlying song.

This is the royalty The MLC collects. It is distinct from the performance royalty (paid when a song is publicly performed or streamed, collected by your PRO) and from the master/recording royalty your distributor pays you as the recording artist. Many independent songwriters already receive performance royalties through ASCAP or BMI and recording royalties through their distributor — yet leave their U.S. digital mechanicals on the table simply because no one registered the works with The MLC.

3. The MLC vs. a PRO vs. SoundExchange

These three are constantly confused, and confusing them costs money. They do not overlap — each pays a different right, so most working songwriter-artists need all three.

  • The MLC — collects U.S. digital audio mechanical royalties (the composition reproduction right) from interactive streaming and download services, and pays self-administered songwriters, composers, lyricists, and publishers. This is the right that previously had no dedicated U.S. collector.
  • PROs (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR, AllTrack) — collect public performance royalties for the composition from radio, venues, TV, and digital services, and pay songwriters and publishers. The MLC does not replace your PRO.
  • SoundExchange — collects digital performance royalties for the sound recording (the master) from non-interactive sources like internet radio, SiriusXM, and Pandora’s radio mode, and pays recording artists and labels. This is a recording right, not a composition right.

Rule of thumb: if you wrote the song, you want The MLC (mechanicals) and a PRO (performances). If you performed on or own the recording, you also want SoundExchange. They are complementary, not interchangeable.

MLC vs PRO vs SoundExchange three royalty buckets compared
Screenshot from the official venue website.

4. Who Should Register With The MLC

You should consider becoming a member of The MLC if you are a self-administered songwriter, composer, or lyricist — meaning you have kept the right to register your own works and collect your own U.S. mechanicals, rather than assigning that job to a publisher or administrator. If your music streams in the U.S. and you haven’t handed your publishing rights to anyone else, your digital mechanicals are very likely going uncollected.

You generally do not need to join The MLC directly if you have already assigned the right to register your works and collect U.S. mechanicals to a music publisher or a publishing administrator (services such as Songtrust, TuneCore Publishing Administration, CD Baby’s publishing service, or a traditional publisher). In that case, your representative registers with The MLC on your behalf and collects for you — joining separately could create duplicate or conflicting claims. The deciding question is always: who currently holds the right to collect my mechanicals? If it’s you, register. If it’s your admin, let them.

5. How to Register With The MLC (Step by Step)

Registration is free and the account setup is quick — figure on roughly ten minutes for the account itself, then more time to enter your catalog. Here is the path to register with the MLC as a self-administered songwriter:

  1. Create a member account at the MLC member portal (portal.themlc.com). You’ll provide your legal name, email, tax information (SSN or EIN), and payment details for receiving royalties.
  2. Set up your publisher/payee profile. You do not need to form a publishing company or legal entity to join as a self-administered songwriter — if you don’t have a publishing entity name, you can list yourself as the publisher on your works.
  3. Register each of your works (your songs) in The MLC’s database, supplying the metadata that lets The MLC match streaming usage to you (covered next).
  4. Keep your details current — update your catalog whenever you release new songs, and keep banking and tax info accurate so payments don’t stall.

Because The MLC handles only U.S. digital mechanicals, registering there does not affect — and is not a substitute for — your PRO membership or your SoundExchange registration.

6. Registering Your Works Correctly

Matching is everything: The MLC can only pay you if the data on a work lines up with how streaming services reported the usage. For each song, you’ll typically provide the title, the ISRC (recording code, from your distributor), the ISWC (composition code, if you have one), the songwriter name(s) and ownership splits, and publisher information. If you’re your own publisher — as most independent artists are — you register as both the songwriter and the publisher, claiming 100% (or your agreed share) of the writer and publisher portions.

The MLC offers several registration methods to match catalog size: a guided registration wizard that walks you through one work at a time; a bulk upload using an Excel template for multiple works; and, for seasoned publishing professionals, a traditional Common Works Registration (CWR) file. Accurate, consistent splits across co-writers matter — if two co-writers register conflicting shares for the same song, the disputed portion can be held back until it’s resolved.

Registering works with ISRC ISWC and splits to collect mechanical royalties from the MLC
Screenshot from the official venue website.

7. Unclaimed Mechanical Royalties and the “Black Box”

The reason this article exists is the sheer scale of unclaimed mechanical royalties. When The MLC took over in 2021, digital services transferred a backlog of historical unmatched royalties — money that had accrued because services couldn’t identify the right songwriters. That historical transfer for U.S. digital audio mechanicals came to roughly $424–427 million, covering accruals from many services over the years leading up to the MMA. On top of that, ongoing “blanket” royalties continue to go unmatched each cycle when works aren’t registered or claims are incomplete — with The MLC reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in unmatched and unclaimed funds being held as of its 2023 reporting.

A meaningful chunk of that undistributed money relates to shares of works that are registered but simply haven’t been claimed by the right rights holders yet. The MLC publishes searchable data on unmatched and historical uses so members can find and claim what’s theirs — and registering your works promptly is the single most effective way to stop your future royalties from ending up in that pool in the first place. If you’ve been releasing music in the U.S. for years without an MLC account, it’s worth searching their database for past usage tied to your songs.

8. Do You Still Need a Publisher or Admin?

The honest answer: it depends on how much you value your time and how complex your catalog and rights situation are. The MLC handles only U.S. digital mechanicals. A full-service publishing administrator typically registers your works across many collection societies worldwide, chases international mechanicals, sync opportunities, and other royalty streams The MLC never touches — usually in exchange for a percentage (commonly around 10–20%) of what they collect.

If you’re U.S.-focused, organized, and want to keep 100% of your mechanicals, self-administering through The MLC is entirely viable and free. If your music earns meaningfully overseas, or you don’t want to manage registrations and chase money yourself, an administrator can pay for itself. What you should not do is assume you’re covered: if you have no publisher and no MLC account, no one is collecting your U.S. digital mechanicals at all.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Does it cost anything to register with The MLC?

No. Membership and registration are free for songwriters, composers, lyricists, and publishers. The MLC’s costs are covered by the digital streaming services, not by rights holders.

Will The MLC collect my mechanical royalties from outside the United States?

No. The MLC administers U.S. digital audio mechanical royalties only. For mechanicals earned in other territories, you’d rely on a publishing administrator or the relevant overseas collection societies.

I’m already with ASCAP/BMI. Do I still need The MLC?

Yes, if you’re self-administered. Your PRO collects performance royalties for the composition; The MLC collects mechanical royalties. They are different rights and different money — being in one does not cover the other.

Do I need to start a publishing company before joining?

No. You can join as a self-administered songwriter without forming a legal entity. If you don’t have a publishing entity name, you can list yourself as the publisher on your works.

How do I find unclaimed mechanical royalties that may already be mine?

Create an MLC member account, register your works so usage can be matched to you going forward, and use The MLC’s searchable database of unmatched and historical uses to identify earnings tied to your songs that haven’t yet been claimed.

If I use a publishing admin like Songtrust or TuneCore, should I also join The MLC directly?

Generally no. If you’ve assigned the right to register and collect U.S. mechanicals to an administrator, they register with The MLC for you. Joining separately can create duplicate claims. Confirm who currently holds your collection rights before acting.

This article is general information about The MLC and mechanical royalties, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Royalty registration and rights decisions can have lasting consequences for your catalog — consult a qualified music attorney, publishing professional, or accountant before making decisions about your rights. Some links in this article may be affiliate or referral links, and this article was produced with AI assistance and human editing.

Written by Mihai Iancu for Get More Streams.

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