A mechanical royalty is the payment owed to a songwriter and music publisher each time a song is reproduced or distributed, including streams, downloads, CD/vinyl sales, and ringtones. The name dates back to the early 20th century when royalties were paid on mechanical reproductions like player-piano rolls.

In the US, mechanical royalties from digital streaming are collected and distributed by The MLC. Pre-2021 digital streams were licensed song-by-song under compulsory mechanical licenses — a slow and incomplete system that the Music Modernization Act replaced.

The current US mechanical rate for streaming is set by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) and averages ~$0.0003 per stream. Per-stream is small but adds up: 1M streams = ~$300 in mechanical royalties (plus ~$1,000-$5,000 in PRO + foreign + SoundExchange royalties on top).

Mechanical royalties are entirely separate from PRO performance royalties, even though both ultimately flow to songwriters.