The Mechanical Licensing Collective has distributed over 3 billion dollars in streaming royalties… are you getting paid for your song plays?
Many independent bluegrass artists handle for themselves:
- Distribution (DistroKid, TuneCore, or Cd Baby)
- Register with a performing rights organization (BMI, ASCAP)
- Collecting SoundExchange royalties
BUT they still leave one piece of the puzzle unclaimed.
If you write songs and they stream on platforms like Spotify or Apple Music, there is a good chance there are mechanical royalties attached to those plays.
And those are collected through one place, The Mechanical Licensing Collective.
If you’ve never signed up, it’s worth learning how it works.
In the early days of streaming, artists were only paid for the sound recording—the master recording of the track itself. Platforms like Spotify and Apple Music treated streams primarily as performances of the recording, meaning the money flowed mostly through distributors and performers.
Songwriters, however, were largely left out of that equation.
That changed with the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) in 2018. The law created a system that finally ensured songwriters and publishers could collect mechanical royalties from interactive streaming services.
Here’s the key concept:
Every time a song is streamed on platforms like Spotify or Apple Music, that stream is treated—legally speaking—like a tiny digital reproduction of the song. In other words, it’s as if a very small piece of a “copy” of the composition was made and delivered to the listener.
That matters because mechanical royalties are paid whenever a composition is reproduced.
In the vinyl and CD era, mechanical royalties were paid when a physical copy of a song was manufactured and sold. The streaming world doesn’t involve physical discs, of course, but the law now treats streams as digital reproductions of the composition, which means they generate mechanical royalties for the songwriter.
So thanks to the Music Modernization Act, those streaming mechanicals are now collected and distributed by The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC).
Meaning, when someone presses play on your song today, multiple royalty streams can potentially be triggered:
- Sound recording royalties (paid through SoundExchange)
- Performance royalties (paid through your PRO like BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC)
- Mechanical royalties for the composition (collected and paid by The MLC)
Before 2018, that third category often slipped through the cracks. Now, if you’re a songwriter, there’s a system in place to make sure those royalties have somewhere to go.
The catch?
You still have to register and claim them, but the good news is, it’s free.
First: The Four Royalty Streams Most Bluegrass Artists Deal With
Independent artists usually collect royalties from several different places. Each one covers a different type of use.
Performing Rights Organizations
Groups like
- BMI
- ASCAP
collect performance royalties for the composition when your song is played on radio, live venues, TV, and some streaming services.
Most songwriters join one of these early in their careers.
Digital Radio Royalties
When the sound recording itself plays on digital radio platforms like Pandora or SiriusXM, those royalties are collected by:
SoundExchange
These royalties are split between the recording owner and the featured artist.
Master Recording Streaming Income
The revenue most artists see first comes from the sound recording streams themselves, paid through distributors like:
- CD Baby
- DistroKid
Those dashboards show plays and payouts tied to the recording.
But remember: the songwriting royalties are separate.
Mechanical Royalties From Streaming
When a song streams on services like Spotify or Apple Music, those platforms owe mechanical royalties for the composition.
Those royalties are collected and distributed by:
The Mechanical Licensing Collective
If you control your own publishing, you can collect these directly.
Why The MLC Matters
Streaming services report music in two completely different ways.
1️⃣ The sound recording (paid through your distributor)
2️⃣ The song composition (paid through the MLC)
If the MLC doesn’t know who owns the publishing, those mechanical royalties may simply sit unmatched. And they don’t sit forever, a few years, tops.
That’s why registering matters.
Before You Sign Up: What You Should Have Ready
Before creating an account, gather a few things.
You’ll need:
- Your IPI number as a songwriter
- Your IPI number for your publishing company (if you have one)
- Your songwriter name exactly as registered with your PRO
- Your publishing company name
- Tax and payment information
And this is where many artists get confused.
The Two IPI Numbers (This Part Confuses Almost Everyone)
If you are an independent songwriter, not signed to a publishing deal, you have or should have your own publishing company registered. You have an IPI number that identifies you as a writer and one as a publishing company.
Example:
| Role | IPI |
| Ashley Lewis (songwriter) | Writer IPI |
| AshCache Music Publishing | Publisher IPI |
Both numbers matter.
Here is the simple rule.
When setting up your MLC member profile
Select Self Administered (unless you have a record or publishing deal)
Select Use your PUBLISHER IPI.
This identifies who is collecting the mechanical royalties
.
After you walk through the setup process, take front and back photos of your drivers license and then smile for a live selfie. You then wait for them to approve your account, and once approved, I received this message below:
AFTER you have an account verified you can register yourself as a songwriter and provide your songwriter IPI number.
When registering songs or identifying writers
Use your WRITER IPI.
This identifies who wrote the composition.
So:
- Profile / membership identity → Publisher IPI
- Songwriter information on works → Writer IPI
Most independent songwriters have both roles, which is why the MLC asks for both numbers.
How to Check If Your Songs Are Already in the MLC
Before you even sign up, you can search the MLC’s public database.
Look up:
- your songwriter name
- your song titles
- your publishing company
Sometimes you’ll see entries that say things like:
“Publisher Unknown”
or
“Publisher Missing”
That means the streaming services reported the song, but the publisher hasn’t been matched yet.
If that publisher is you, claiming the work connects the royalties to your account.
So The Basic Signup Steps
For most independent artists, the process looks like this:
- Register with the MLC as a Self-Administered Songwriter
- Enter your publisher IPI number
- Enter your writer IPI number
- Add your tax and payment information
- Search for and claim your songs
Once your works are matched, future streaming mechanical royalties should route to you automatically.
Why This Matters for Bluegrass Artists
Bluegrass has always been a do-it-yourself genre.
Many artists in our world:
- release their own records
- run their own publishing
- manage their own touring and merch
That independence is part of our culture, but it also means we have to understand the business side well enough to make sure our songs are properly registered and we are compensated accordingly..
Fortunately, once these accounts are set up, they run quietly in the background!
The Takeaway
If you write and release songs that stream online, your royalty setup should include:
- a performing rights organization (BMI)
- SoundExchange
- your distributor (use my affiliate code with Distrokid for a 7% discount)
- and The MLC
Each one covers a different part of the puzzle.
And who knows? You may discover that a few royalties were waiting there for you the whole time.
