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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Mechanical License For Publishers

Mechanical License For Publishers

     As I mentioned in a previous post, that as an artist you should start with a publisher when making your own music. Today I will discuss mechanical licenses for publishers. There are two major organizations that issue mechanical license for publishers. One is Harry Fox Agency, which in the United States is the largest organization of its kind. In Canada CMRRA, standing for Canada Mechanical Rights Reproduction Agency. What are this organization do for publishers? They act as a publishers agent for mechanicals. They issue licenses for the publisher, police them (make sure the users pay), and account to the publisher. This is not a free service and you need them. Harry Fox charges 6.75%  of the gross monies collected. CMRRA charges 6%. Not only due they collect and issue but they also audit record companies on behalf of their clients, and then allocate the recovered monies among their clients in proportion to their earnings. This is significant for a smaller publisher, as the cost of an audit for small earnings is prohibitive and an audit can cost $15,000 to $25,000 or more, and unless the recovery is likely to be several times the amount, it's not economical.