Mechanical Royalties: How to Claim Yours from The MLC and CMRRA
Mechanical royalties are paid when your composition is reproduced, including every stream. In the US you claim them free and directly from The MLC. In Canada you affiliate with CMRRA or SOCAN Reproduction Rights. As a Canadian songwriter, pick one path per territory so the same work isn't double-claimed.
Mechanical royalties are the money owed to you, the songwriter, every time your composition gets copied. A stream counts. A download counts. So does a CD or a vinyl pressing. This is a separate stream from the performance royalty your PRO collects, and it gets paid out by completely different organizations. Two countries, two systems, and a real decision to make if you're Canadian.
The frustrating part is how much of this money sits unclaimed. In the US alone, The MLC was holding roughly $374 million in royalties that hadn't been matched or claimed by their rightful owners. That's not a typo. The system only pays you once you've registered your works, and plenty of songwriters never do.
What is a mechanical royalty, and why is streaming part of it?
A mechanical royalty is paid to the songwriter and publisher whenever a musical work is reproduced. That covers physical copies like CDs and vinyl, downloads, and, since streaming creates a copy of the file, every interactive stream too. It's tied to the composition, not the recording, so it's yours as the writer regardless of who owns the master.
People hear the word mechanical and picture pressing plants. That framing is decades out of date. The reason streaming generates a mechanical royalty is that a stream technically reproduces the work each time it plays, so the law treats it as a reproduction. On Spotify, Apple Music, and the rest, two separate royalties come off the same play: a performance royalty (collected by your PRO) and a mechanical royalty (collected by the body covered on this page).
If you only ever signed up with a PRO, you're collecting one of those two and leaving the other sitting in a pool. That's the most common gap I see, and it's exactly the kind of money The MLC is holding.
unclaimed and unmatched royalties The MLC was holding (2023 recap: ~$164.2M unclaimed plus ~$209.7M unmatched)
total The MLC has distributed since launch
mechanical royalties CMRRA distributed in 2025, its 50th-anniversary year
cost to register directly with both The MLC and CMRRA
How do I claim US mechanical royalties from The MLC?
You register directly and for free at The MLC, then enter your works so their system can match plays to you. The MLC (the Mechanical Licensing Collective) was designated by the US Copyright Office under the Music Modernization Act to run blanket mechanical licensing for every eligible streaming and download service in the US. Registration is open to non-US citizens, including Canadians.
Here's the step-by-step. First, go to The MLC's membership page and create an account. There's no fee. Before you finish, run their Missing Member Lookup. Your songs may already have royalties waiting from before you registered, and this tells you if you're owed back money. As a non-US person, you'll complete a US tax form (the W-8BEN) so they can pay you. Skip this and your payments stall. Then register your works: for each composition, list the writers and the ownership splits. Add the ISRC for every recording of that work. The MLC matches plays to works partly through recording data, and a registration that's thin on identifiers is hard for any collective to match.
That last point matters more than people expect. Across SoundExchange, The MLC, and the Canadian systems, the ISRC is the thread that ties a play back to you. Without it your recordings are close to invisible to the matching engines, which is one reason so much money goes unclaimed in the first place.
Don't double-register the same work
Do not register the same works both directly with The MLC and through CMRRA's International Collections (or SOCAN Reproduction Rights) at the same time. Double-claiming the same work creates conflicts and delays payment while they sort out who actually represents it. Pick one path per work and stick to it.
How do I claim Canadian mechanical royalties from CMRRA?
In Canada you collect mechanicals by affiliating with CMRRA, the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency, which is now a SoundExchange company. CMRRA covers streaming, downloads, CDs, vinyl, and broadcast mechanical use. It does not handle performance rights or sync licensing, so it sits alongside your PRO rather than replacing it.
A few things worth knowing before you sign up. Affiliation is open to any copyright owner, anywhere. Canadian residency is not required. If you're a self-published songwriter who hasn't assigned your songs to a publisher, you can affiliate directly and keep the publisher's share yourself. CMRRA pays out quarterly, in March, June, September, and December, once your activity reaches CAD $15 or more. Below that, it rolls over. CMRRA marked its 50th anniversary in 2025 by distributing $94 million CAD to publishers and self-published songwriters. The point isn't the exact figure year to year. It's that this is a large, active pool you have to opt into to touch.
The registration flow is the familiar one: create your account, complete the tax and payment setup, then register each work with its writers, splits, and recording identifiers. As with The MLC, the ISRC on every recording is what lets their system find your plays.
CMRRA or SOCAN Reproduction Rights: which should a Canadian songwriter pick?
For mechanicals inside Canada, you have two main routes, and you should use one of them per work, not both. CMRRA is the dedicated mechanical agency. SOCAN Reproduction Rights is the alternative SOCAN built after acquiring SODRAC in 2018, and it lets you collect both your performance and your mechanical royalties under one roof.
The trade-off is real but simple. CMRRA is specialist and mechanical-only, which some publishers and writers prefer for the focus. SOCAN Reproduction Rights consolidates everything with the PRO you're already a member of, so it's one login and one statement instead of two. Neither is better in the abstract. It comes down to whether you'd rather keep mechanicals with a dedicated agency or fold them into your SOCAN relationship.
| CMRRA | SOCAN Reproduction Rights | |
|---|---|---|
| What it collects | Mechanical only | Mechanical, alongside SOCAN performance |
| Best fit | Writers who want a dedicated mechanical agency | Writers who want everything under one SOCAN account |
| Canadian residency required | No, open to owners anywhere | Tied to SOCAN membership |
| Also files for US (The MLC) | Yes, via International Collections | Yes, claims MLC royalties as a CMO |
| Payout cadence | Quarterly, at CAD $15+ | Per SOCAN's schedule |
One thing I want to be straight about: I couldn't confirm from a primary source whether affiliating with both CMRRA and SOCAN Reproduction Rights at the same time is permitted for every type of work. So treat the pick-one rule as the safe default rather than something I can cite. The double-claim warning above is the part that's well documented.
As a Canadian, how do I collect my US mechanicals?
You have three paths, and the rule is to commit to one per work. Your US streaming mechanicals are held by The MLC, and as a Canadian you can reach them in one of three ways. You can register directly with The MLC: free, open to non-US citizens, and you'll need the W-8BEN tax form. You can use CMRRA's International Collections service, where CMRRA registers your works with The MLC on your behalf. Or you can use SOCAN Reproduction Rights, where SOCAN claims your MLC royalties as a collective management organization on your behalf.
The reason pick-one keeps coming up is conflicts. If you register directly with The MLC and also route the same works through CMRRA International, two organizations are telling The MLC they represent you for the same song. That dispute freezes the payment until it's resolved. So the cleanest setup for most Canadian self-published writers is to choose a single representative for US mechanicals and let it handle The MLC, rather than registering everywhere and hoping it sorts itself out.
This split, US and Canadian mechanicals running on parallel tracks, is exactly what a full registration checklist has to account for. If you want to see where mechanicals sit relative to your performance and neighbouring rights money, the pillar lays out the whole stack.
Run the numbers on what your mechanicals are worth
Mechanicals come off the same streams as your performance royalties, so they're easy to forget and easy to underestimate. Before you decide which path to register through, it helps to see roughly what your streaming volume translates into across the different royalty types, gross before any fees or splits.
The math itself is straightforward once you've claimed everything. The hard part is the claiming. Register your works, put your ISRCs on every recording, pick one path per territory, and check the Missing Member Lookup for money that's already waiting. That's the whole job.
Frequently asked questions
Does Spotify pay mechanical royalties separately from streaming royalties?+
Yes. A single Spotify stream generates two royalties off the same play: a performance royalty your PRO collects, and a mechanical royalty for reproducing the composition. In the US that mechanical is held by The MLC; in Canada it's CMRRA or SOCAN Reproduction Rights. If you only signed up with a PRO, you're leaving the mechanical half uncollected.
Is it free to register with The MLC and CMRRA?+
Yes, both are free to register. The MLC charges nothing and accepts non-US citizens directly, though you'll complete a W-8BEN tax form. CMRRA affiliation is also open to copyright owners anywhere, with no Canadian residency requirement. The cost isn't money, it's the time to register every work properly with writers, splits, and ISRCs.
What is the Missing Member Lookup on The MLC?+
It's a tool on The MLC's site that shows whether royalties are already waiting for your songs before you've registered. Because so much money goes unmatched, The MLC was holding roughly $374 million in unclaimed and unmatched royalties, and some of it may be tied to works whose writers never signed up. Run the lookup when you register to check for back money.
Can I register the same song with both The MLC and CMRRA?+
Not the same works through both at once. Registering directly with The MLC and also routing those works through CMRRA's International Collections creates a conflict, since two organizations claim to represent you, and that delays payment. Pick one path per work for your US mechanicals: direct MLC, CMRRA International, or SOCAN Reproduction Rights.
How often does CMRRA pay out mechanical royalties?+
CMRRA distributes quarterly, in March, June, September, and December, once your accumulated activity reaches CAD $15 or more. Below that threshold the amount rolls over to the next quarter. CMRRA marked its 50th anniversary in 2025 by distributing $94 million CAD across its affiliated publishers and self-published songwriters.
Keep reading
Pillar guide
How to Collect Every Music Royalty
A Canadian indie artist collects royalties by registering across two copyrights: the composition (SOCAN for performance, CMRRA or SOCAN Reproduction for mechanical) and the recording (ACTRA RACS or Artisti for neighbouring rights, plus a maker collective).
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SOCAN vs ASCAP vs BMI
If you live in Canada, join SOCAN.
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Neighbouring Rights in Canada
Neighbouring rights pay performers and master owners when a recording gets broadcast or played in public.
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Run your own streaming math
Plug in your streams and a payout range to see gross revenue, your share after the distributor fee and splits, and how many streams it takes to recoup a budget.