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What are Mechanical Royalties?

Written by Press Officer on .

Mechanical royalties are payments made to composers, songwriters, and publishers when their music is reproduced or copied. This includes physical copies (like CDs or vinyl), digital downloads, and streams.

Key points:

  • Mechanical royalties cover the composition of the music, not the recording itself.
  • They are collected by organisations like MCPSI on behalf of music creators.

Anyone who reproduces or distributes music, whether digitally or physically, needs a mechanical licence.

👉 In short: mechanical royalties ensure that music creators are paid whenever their compositions are copied or reproduced.