Two licenses, one composition
When a musical composition is used commercially, in a recording, a film, a commercial, or a game, someone needs permission from the copyright owner of that composition. The two most common licenses that grant that permission are the mechanical license and the sync license.
Both licenses cover the same underlying property: the musical composition. A composition is the melody and the lyrics, the song itself, as distinct from any particular recording of it. Licensing the composition does not automatically grant rights to any specific recording. A master recording of a composition is a separate copyright owned by whoever made or funded that recording, typically a record label or an independent artist who recorded and released it themselves.
The mechanical license and the sync license differ in what they permit, how they are obtained, and how money flows through them.
What a mechanical license covers
A mechanical license grants the right to reproduce and distribute a musical composition in audio-only form. The term comes from the era of mechanical player pianos, when rolls that reproduced songs triggered a licensing obligation to the composition's owner. The concept has persisted through physical records, CDs, downloads, and into interactive digital streaming.
The key phrase is audio-only. A mechanical license covers a recording that listeners hear without any accompanying visual media, a CD, a vinyl record, a purchased download, a song played on a streaming service where the listener selects it directly. The moment a composition is paired with any visual element, a film scene, a TV episode, a music video synced to picture, an advertisement, the relevant license is a sync license, not a mechanical.
The Section 115 compulsory license
The compulsory mechanical license exists because Congress decided, in the Copyright Act, that compositions should be available for audio-only reproduction once they have entered the commercial market. Section 115 of the Copyright Act establishes the framework: once a composition has been commercially released by or with the permission of the copyright owner, any other person can make and distribute phonorecords of that composition, their own cover version, by complying with the statutory terms.
Compliance means serving a Notice of Intention on the copyright owner before distributing any copies, paying the statutory mechanical rate set by the Copyright Royalty Board, and rendering monthly statements with accurate accounting. The copyright owner cannot refuse or set a higher rate for a compulsory license, that is the trade the statute makes. As the U.S. Copyright Office explains in its Music Licensing Modernization documentation at copyright.gov/music-modernization/115/, the compulsory license is available for physical copies and traditional downloads under the song-by-song system that has existed for decades. The statutory mechanical rate for physical copies and permanent downloads is set by the Copyright Royalty Board, for works subject to the original Section 115 physical/download structure, the per-copy rate is 9.1 cents per song (for songs five minutes or shorter), or 1.75 cents per minute of playing time, whichever is greater, for copies five minutes and longer. These rates are set through the CRB's rate-setting proceedings and are periodically reviewed.
The Music Modernization Act and the MLC
For digital interactive streaming, the kind that platforms like Spotify and Apple Music deliver, the mechanical licensing landscape changed significantly with the Music Modernization Act of 2018. As the Copyright Office explains at copyright.gov/music-modernization/115/, the legislation replaced the old song-by-song compulsory licensing structure for digital phonorecord deliveries with a blanket licensing system.
Under the blanket license, digital music providers obtain a single license from the Mechanical Licensing Collective (the MLC) that covers all musical works in the MLC's database. The provider pays royalties to the MLC based on reported usage, and the MLC distributes those royalties to publishers and songwriters after matching usage data to the correct copyright owners.
The MLC, as described at themlc.com, maintains a publicly accessible database of musical works and their owners to support accurate payment. This system addresses a longstanding problem in digital music: streaming services were often distributing music without being able to identify or locate the owners of the underlying compositions, leaving royalties unclaimed.
What a sync license covers
A sync license, short for synchronization license, grants the right to pair a musical composition with visual media. Film and television productions use sync licenses when they want to include a song on a soundtrack. Advertising agencies need sync licenses for commercials that use music. Video game developers license compositions for in-game soundtracks. Any online video that uses a piece of copyrighted music in synchronization with the picture requires a sync license for the underlying composition.
The defining characteristic of a sync license is that there is no compulsory path. Congress did not extend the Section 115 framework to audiovisual uses. This means the publisher or copyright owner of a composition can refuse to grant a sync license entirely, for any reason or no reason, or can set any fee they choose. There is no statutory rate, no cap, and no obligation to license.
This matters in practice. An independent film producer who wants to use a specific song in a scene cannot invoke a compulsory license to obtain that right. They must approach the publisher or songwriter directly, negotiate terms, agree on a fee, and sign a license agreement. If the publisher says no, the producer must choose a different song.
Who pays whom
The money trails for the two licenses run in different directions.
For mechanical royalties, the obligation to pay falls on whoever is reproducing and distributing the composition. For physical releases, that is typically the record label or distributor. For streaming, the digital service provider pays mechanical royalties through the MLC's blanket license system. The MLC distributes those royalties to publishers, who then pay songwriters according to their publishing agreements. BMI's FAQ on the difference between performing rights and mechanical royalties, at bmi.com, summarizes the distinction between performance royalties (paid when music is publicly performed or broadcast) and mechanical royalties (paid for reproduction and distribution).
For sync licensing, the fee flows directly from the production, the film company, the advertising agency, the game developer, to the publisher. Sync fees are typically one-time payments, though some agreements include backend royalties tied to the production's performance. The publisher negotiates and collects the sync fee; the songwriter's share of that fee depends on their publishing agreement.
The master-use question
A sync license for a composition does not give the production the right to use any specific recording of that composition. If a film wants to use a famous studio recording of a song, it needs two licenses: the sync license from the publisher for the composition, and a master-use license from whoever owns that master recording, typically the record label that funded the original recording, or an independent artist who owns their own masters.
Negotiating both can be complex and expensive, especially for well-known recordings. Productions working with constrained budgets often record their own versions of a composition rather than licensing an existing master. A custom recording requires only the sync license from the publisher for the composition, because the production owns the master of its own new recording. The underlying composition still needs to be licensed, but the master-use negotiation is eliminated.
Key distinctions at a glance
| Factor | Mechanical License | Sync License | |---|---|---| | What it covers | Audio-only reproduction/distribution of a composition | Pairing a composition with visual media | | Compulsory option | Yes, under Section 115 (non-digital) / blanket license (digital) | No | | Statutory rate | Yes (set by Copyright Royalty Board) | No, negotiated | | Publisher can refuse | No (compulsory path exists for audio) | Yes | | Who pays | Record label, distributor, or streaming service | Film/TV production, ad agency, game developer | | Who collects | Publisher (via MLC for streaming) | Publisher (directly from licensee) |
Using a composition correctly
Independent artists who write and record their own original songs are the copyright owners of both the composition and the master recording until they sign those rights away or enter agreements that transfer them. They do not need to license their own compositions from themselves.
Artists who record cover versions of other people's songs need a mechanical license for the composition they are covering. For digital distribution through a streaming service, the distributor typically handles the compulsory mechanical license on the artist's behalf and deducts the mechanical royalty from the artist's earnings. Artists distributing physical copies or downloads independently need to ensure mechanical compliance directly.
Artists who want to use someone else's composition in a visual project, a music video, a film score submission, a short film, need a sync license from the publisher or copyright owner of that composition. The compulsory path does not apply to audiovisual uses, and using a composition in video without a sync license is a copyright infringement regardless of how the mechanical licensing situation is handled.
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More from the Indie Label / Artist Dev desk →Frequently asked
What is the difference between a mechanical license and a sync license?
Both licenses grant permission to use a musical composition -- the underlying song, meaning its melody and lyrics. The difference is the context. A mechanical license covers audio-only reproduction and distribution: making a physical copy of a song, releasing it as a download, or distributing it as an interactive stream. A sync license covers pairing the composition with visual media: a film, a television episode, a commercial, an online video, or a game. The Copyright Office explains the compulsory mechanical license framework in its Music Licensing Modernization documentation at copyright.gov/music-modernization/115/, and Circular 73 (circ73.pdf) outlines the compulsory license structure. Sync licensing has no compulsory path -- it is always a direct negotiation.
What is the compulsory mechanical license under Section 115?
Section 115 of the Copyright Act establishes a compulsory license for making and distributing phonorecords -- physical or digital reproductions -- of nondramatic musical works. Once a composition has been commercially released by or with the permission of the copyright owner, anyone can make an audio-only cover version by complying with the statutory terms: serving the required notice, paying the statutory rate, and rendering accurate accounting. As the U.S. Copyright Office explains at copyright.gov/music-modernization/115/, the Music Modernization Act replaced the old song-by-song compulsory licensing structure for digital phonorecord deliveries (interactive streams, downloads) with a blanket licensing system administered by the Mechanical Licensing Collective. For non-digital uses -- physical copies, traditional downloads -- the song-by-song notice-and-reporting structure remains in place.
How are streaming mechanical royalties handled now?
Under the Music Modernization Act, digital music providers -- streaming services -- obtain a blanket license to make and distribute digital phonorecord deliveries of musical works. They report usage to the Mechanical Licensing Collective and pay royalties to the MLC, which then matches the usage data to the correct publishers and songwriters and distributes payment. As the Copyright Office explains in its Section 115 documentation at copyright.gov/music-modernization/115/, this replaced the prior system in which each streaming service was supposed to serve individual notices for each song. The MLC also maintains a public database of musical works ownership to support accurate matching and payment.
Do I need both a mechanical and a sync license to put a song in a film?
Yes -- if you are licensing a composition for use in a film or other visual media, you need a sync license from the publisher or copyright owner of the composition. That covers the right to pair the music with the picture. The sync license alone covers only the composition. If you also want to use a specific master recording of that song -- an existing studio recording by a particular artist -- you need a separate master-use license from whoever owns that master recording, typically the record label or the artist. If you record your own version of the composition for the film, you do not need a master-use license for your own recording, but you still need the sync license for the underlying composition.