TL;DR
The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) collects and distributes digital mechanical royalties in the United States — a royalty stream separate from performance royalties (ASCAP/BMI) and from master recording revenue (your distributor). Hundreds of millions of dollars in US mechanical royalties currently sit unmatched at The MLC — over $400M across blanket and historical pools, per The MLC's 2023 Annual Royalty Recap. Under the Music Modernization Act, unclaimed funds are redistributed to major publishers after three years — not returned to artists. If your songs have been streaming since 2021 or later without MLC registration, your share of those royalties is at risk.
The Mechanical Licensing Collective launched in January 2021 under the Music Modernization Act (17 U.S.C. § 115) as the designated organization for collecting and distributing digital mechanical royalties in the United States. Before The MLC, mechanical royalty collection for streaming was fragmented and chronically underperforming. The MLC centralized it.
The system is theoretically elegant: Spotify and other on-demand services pay a mechanical royalty for every stream into The MLC, which then matches those payments to registered rights holders and pays out. The breakdown is in the matching. According to The MLC's 2023 Annual Royalty Recap, over $400M in collected mechanicals remains unmatched — sitting in a pool waiting for rights holders to claim it. The MLC has distributed over $3 billion to rights holders since launching in 2021, but hundreds of millions more remain unclaimed.
Most of that unclaimed money belongs to independent artists who don't know The MLC exists.
What Mechanical Royalties Are
Mechanical royalties are fees paid to songwriters and publishers for the "reproduction" of a composition. The term dates to the era of player piano rolls — a mechanical copy of a song. In the streaming era, on-demand plays (where a user specifically requests a song) constitute a mechanical reproduction.
When someone streams your song on Spotify, two royalty payments are generated:
- Master recording revenue → paid by Spotify to your distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore, etc.) → passed to you
- Mechanical royalty → paid by Spotify to The MLC → matched and paid to the songwriter/publisher
These are separate payments, separate systems, separate organizations. Your distributor collecting the first does not affect the second. If you're not registered with The MLC, the second payment goes unmatched.
The current US mechanical royalty rate for on-demand streaming is set by the Copyright Royalty Board at approximately 15.35% of total service revenue, per CRB rate determinations. For an artist with 500,000 monthly streams, the mechanical royalty owed is approximately $300–450/month — fully separate from streaming master revenue.
The Three-Year Redistribution Clock
This is the most time-sensitive element of The MLC's system.
Under 17 U.S.C. § 115, The MLC must hold unmatched mechanical royalties for a minimum of three years from the date of first collection. After that period, funds become eligible for redistribution to publishers based on their proportional share of matched royalties.
"Redistribution" does not mean the money is returned to artists. It is paid out to publishers according to market share — Universal Music Publishing, Sony Music Publishing, and Warner Chappell Music collectively represent approximately 60–65% of licensed catalog and would receive the majority of redistributed funds.
The MLC began collecting in January 2021. Royalties from January 2021 crossed the three-year mark in early 2024. If you have songs that were streaming from 2021 onwards without MLC registration, some of those royalties may already have been redistributed.
Royalties collected from 2023 onwards are still within the holding period. The window to claim them is open — but narrowing.
What Independent Artists Most Commonly Miss at The MLC
Never registered. The MLC requires direct registration — it does not automatically pull your information from ASCAP, BMI, or your distributor. You must go to themlc.com and register your catalog separately.
Registered with wrong ISRCs. The MLC matches streaming reports using ISRCs. If you registered your songs at The MLC before uploading to a distributor (or used a self-generated ISRC), the ISRCs in The MLC's system may not match the ISRCs Spotify reports. Every mismatch means uncollected royalties.
Missing co-writer data. If a song has co-writers and their information isn't included in The MLC registration, the work is flagged as having incomplete ownership data. Mechanical royalties for the entire song may be held pending resolution.
No publishing entity. Like PROs, The MLC splits payments into writer's share and publisher's share. Without a registered publishing entity in The MLC's system, you receive only the writer's half.
Catalog never audited. Many artists register a few songs but not their full catalog. Songs not in The MLC's system generate royalties that go unmatched from the first stream.
How to Register with The MLC
Step 1: Go to themlc.com. Create an account at themlc.com. Registration is free. The MLC does not charge a fee or take a percentage — the cost is covered by streaming services as part of their licensing obligations.
Step 2: Register your publishing entity. Even if you self-publish, register a publishing entity in The MLC's system. This is required to receive the publisher's share of mechanical royalties.
Step 3: Register your works. For each song in your catalog, submit a work registration with:
- Song title
- All co-writers with percentage splits
- Your publishing entity as publisher
- ISRCs — use the ISRCs your distributor assigned (find these in your DistroKid, TuneCore, or CD Baby account)
Step 4: Submit claims for unmatched royalties. The MLC has a public search tool at themlc.com where you can search for unmatched royalties by song title, artist name, or ISRC. If your songs appear in the unmatched pool, file a claim immediately with supporting documentation (distributor statements, streaming data showing you are the rights holder).
Step 5: Monitor your registrations. After registration, check that your ISRCs appear correctly in your MLC work records. A work showing "no matching recordings" is a red flag — it likely means the ISRC doesn't match what platforms are reporting.
What CreateBase Does for MLC Claims
MLC claims and registration are a core part of every CreateBase engagement:
- We audit your full catalog against The MLC's unmatched royalties database
- We reconcile the ISRCs in your distributor account with the ISRCs in your MLC registrations
- We identify every song in your catalog not yet registered at The MLC
- We register missing works with correct ISRCs, co-writer splits, and publisher entities
- We file claims for royalties in The MLC's unmatched pool with supporting documentation
- We track claims through to payment confirmation
Find out how much you have unclaimed at The MLC → CreateBase delivers a free personalized royalty gap report within 48 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is The MLC the same as ASCAP or BMI?
A: No. ASCAP and BMI are performing rights organizations — they collect performance royalties owed when a song is publicly performed or streamed. The MLC is a mechanical licensing collective — it collects mechanical royalties owed for the reproduction/streaming of a composition. These are separate royalty streams. You need both a PRO registration (ASCAP or BMI) and an MLC registration to collect the full composition royalties from streaming.
Q: Is it free to register with The MLC?
A: Yes. MLC registration is completely free for songwriters and publishers. The MLC is funded by streaming services, not by rights holders. There are no fees to register, no annual dues, and no percentage taken from distributions. Direct registration at themlc.com is the most cost-effective path — some publishing administrators register on your behalf but take a percentage of collections.
Q: I used DistroKid Publishing — am I registered with The MLC?
A: If you enrolled in DistroKid Publishing, DistroKid may have registered your works with The MLC on your behalf as your publishing administrator. However, DistroKid Publishing takes a percentage of your MLC distributions. Registering directly with The MLC yourself is free and you receive 100% of your royalties. Check your DistroKid account for confirmation of MLC registration status, then verify the ISRCs at themlc.com.
Q: Can I claim royalties for streams from before I registered?
A: Yes, for royalties still within The MLC's holding period. The MLC holds unmatched royalties for at least three years from when they were collected. Royalties from 2023 and later are currently within the window. If your songs were streaming before you registered and those royalties went unmatched, you can file a claim and receive the held funds — provided the three-year window hasn't elapsed.
Q: How much does The MLC hold in unmatched royalties?
A: According to The MLC's 2023 Annual Royalty Recap, over $400M in US mechanical royalties is currently unmatched — approximately $209.7M in blanket unmatched royalties plus remaining historical unmatched funds. This represents royalties that have been collected from streaming services but cannot be distributed because the rights holder hasn't been identified. The majority of this pool belongs to independent artists with registration gaps or metadata errors.
Sources
- The MLC 2023 Annual Royalty Recap — Over $400M in unmatched US mechanical royalties; $3B+ distributed since 2021
- Music Modernization Act, 17 U.S.C. § 115 — MLC structure, three-year holding period, and redistribution rules
- Copyright Royalty Board — Phonorecords IV — On-demand streaming mechanical royalty rates
- CISAC Global Collections Report 2024 — €12.59 billion in global royalty collections in 2024