Mechanical License
Audiodrome is a royalty-free music platform designed specifically for content creators who need affordable, high-quality background music for videos, podcasts, social media, and commercial projects. Unlike subscription-only services, Audiodrome offers both free tracks and simple one-time licensing with full commercial rights, including DMCA-safe use on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. All music is original, professionally produced, and PRO-free, ensuring zero copyright claims. It’s ideal for YouTubers, freelancers, marketers, and anyone looking for budget-friendly audio that’s safe to monetize.
A mechanical license is permission to reproduce and distribute a copyrighted musical composition in audio-only formats such as downloads, streams, CDs, or other phonorecords. It covers the song itself, not the existing sound recording, so using someone else’s master recording usually requires a separate permission as well.
Quick facts line:
Also called: mechanical rights license, mech license
Covers: reproduction and distribution of a musical work in phonorecords/digital phonorecord deliveries
Usually relevant for: cover songs, downloads, interactive streams, physical releases
Does not cover: sync use in video or use of an existing master recording by itself.
Example:
If you record your own cover of a released song and want to distribute it on streaming services or as downloads, you generally need a mechanical license for the composition. But if you want to use the original artist’s recording instead of making your own, you also need permission for the sound recording, because the mechanical license does not by itself authorize use of that master.
Gotchas:
- A mechanical license applies to the musical work/composition, not automatically to the sound recording. The U.S. Copyright Office states that section 115 permits making and distributing phonorecords of the musical work, but does not permit using someone else’s existing sound recording without permission.
- It is not the same as a sync license. WIPO materials distinguish mechanical rights from the separate permission needed to use music in audiovisual works.
- In the United States, the modern system for many digital uses now includes a blanket mechanical license for eligible digital music providers under the Music Modernization Act, administered through the Mechanical Licensing Collective.
- The compulsory mechanical license in the U.S. does not apply before a qualifying distribution has happened. The Copyright Office explains that the musical work must first have been distributed to the public in the United States under the authority of the copyright owner before the section 115 compulsory license can be invoked.
FAQs
Related terms:
Mechanical Rights • Sync License • Master Rights • Composition Rights • Cover Song • Royalty-Free • License Term