IF YOU'RE STREAMING, YOU'RE EARNING

Learn More About Mechanical Royalties and Collect What You're Due

If you have songs distributed and are earning significant streams on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, you have two types of royalties to collect - mechanical and performance royalties.

Those earnings don’t just automatically land in your bank account. Every purchase and stream needs to be monitored and collected across every channel in every territory across the world. It’s an almost impossible task to take on alone. One small human error in the process and it can take years to get paid properly.

Partnering with a publishing administrator like Songtrust is the easiest and most efficient way to collect your mechanical royalties from across the globe. Our team and technology is on your side.

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What Are Mechanical Royalties and Why Can’t I 
Collect Them On My Own?

Mechanical royalties (or “mechanicals”) are royalties earned through the physical and digital reproduction of copyrighted works. That includes everything from vinyl records and CDs to interactive streaming platforms and fixed MP3 files, to karaoke recordings, film soundtracks, and cover songs.

While some countries and territories have collection societies that collect performance and mechanical royalties, that’s not the case everywhere and unless you’re affiliated with them directly, you may not be collecting all of what you’ve earned.

Without a publishing partner, you’re likely leaving uncollected money on the table.

How Are Mechanical Royalties Earned, Calculated, 
and Collected?

Each time a song is played, downloaded or streamed, a mechanical royalty is generated. Streaming royalty rates are based on the overall revenue a DSP (digital service providers aka streaming platforms like Spotify) brings in, and how much the DSP is legally required to share with songwriters. The current statutory mechanical royalty rate is 12.4¢ per track or 2.39¢ per minute of play-time (whichever is greater). These rates change often! For a real-time estimate of what your recordings have earned, check out our royalty calculator.

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Just like most royalties, mechanical royalties are tracked and collected by collection societies around the world. These societies work with DSPs to track, collect, and distribute royalties to all the appropriate parties. But just like other royalties, your song needs to be distributed on streaming platforms and registered with a publisher before you can collect.

Need to see an example of how this all works? Download our "How I Get Paid By Spotify" breakdown and we'll show you how you get paid.

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Does Songtrust Collect Mechanical Royalties?

Yes! Songtrust will collect mechanical royalties on your behalf. In addition, we also collect other royalties your composition earns (performance and micro-sync).

Once you add your works with Songtrust, we monitor them on a weekly basis for streaming and royalty activity. Once they hit activity thresholds, we get busy registering your works directly with our network of global societies. Then, we begin collecting all royalties due to you on your behalf and pay you quarterly, all while you retain 100% ownership of your works. With over 350,000 writers and 3 million songs, Songtrust is your trusted partner in getting you what you’ve earned.