Canadian Artists: The MLC Is a Reminder That Distribution Does Not Collect Every Royalty
The MLC's new Music Registration 101 course is a useful prompt for Canadian artists to check which royalty lanes their distributor, SOCAN, CMRRA, The MLC, and SoundExchange actually cover.
Short answer
If you are a Canadian songwriter with music streaming in the United States, The MLC may matter because it administers a specific US digital mechanical royalty lane. Your distributor handles master royalties, SOCAN handles performance royalties, and CMRRA or SOCAN Reproduction Rights handle Canadian reproduction income. Those lanes are related, but they are not interchangeable.
What happened?
The Mechanical Licensing Collective launched a free online course called Music Registration 101. The course covers copyright registration, performance rights organizations, mechanical royalties, SoundExchange, and distribution revenue. The useful part is not that a new royalty exists. It is that The MLC is making the registration map explicit.
That matters because artists often use one word, royalties, for several separate money flows. A distributor, a PRO, a mechanical collective, and a neighbouring-rights or digital performance organization do not all do the same job.
Does this apply to Canadian artists?
Yes, if your songs are streaming in the United States and you have a songwriter or publisher share in the composition. The MLC administers a US digital mechanical royalty lane for eligible interactive streaming and download services. It does not replace SOCAN, CMRRA, SOCAN Reproduction Rights, SoundExchange, or your distributor.
The practical map is straightforward once you separate the lanes. Your distributor collects master recording revenue from DSPs. SOCAN collects performance royalties for the composition. CMRRA or SOCAN Reproduction Rights can be part of Canadian reproduction and mechanical administration. The MLC handles a specific US mechanical royalty lane. SoundExchange handles a US non-interactive digital performance lane for the sound recording.
Why independent artists should care
A Canadian artist can have a release live everywhere and still have missing songwriter royalties if the work is not registered in the right place. Distribution is not publishing administration. SOCAN is not The MLC. A master royalty is not the same thing as a composition royalty.
This is where a lot of money gets lost quietly. Not because the artist did something reckless, but because the royalty system is fragmented and the platforms do not explain the boundaries clearly. The MLC course is useful because it gives artists a reason to check the map before assuming everything is covered.
What should you check now?
Start with the release metadata. Make sure your ISRCs, songwriter names, publisher information, and split details are correct. Then check whether each composition is registered with the organizations that match your actual rights and territories.
If you write your own songs, confirm who is collecting your performance royalties, who is handling Canadian reproduction or mechanical income, and whether US mechanical collection is covered through a publisher, administrator, or direct MLC membership. If you also own the master, check whether SoundExchange applies for non-interactive US digital uses.
What is still unclear?
The open question is how much Canada-specific guidance The MLC course gives. The course is still useful, but Canadian artists need a translation layer: which parts apply directly, which parts are US-only, and which Canadian organizations still need to be handled separately.
The safer takeaway is simple: do not assume one registration covers every royalty. Treat distribution, performance, mechanicals, neighbouring rights, and non-interactive digital performance as separate lanes until you have confirmed otherwise.
Sources
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