Mechanical Rights

Audiodrome Toggle Info   |   Last Updated: March 24th, 2026   |   4 min read   |   Glossary

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.

Mechanical rights are the rights to reproduce and distribute a musical composition in copies or phonorecords, including physical formats and certain digital uses. WIPO explains that making and distributing copies of music are normally referred to as mechanical rights, and the U.S. Copyright Office links Section 115 to the compulsory license for making and distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works.

Quick facts:
Also called: mechanicals, mechanical licensing rights, reproduction and distribution rights for musical works
Applies to: songs and musical compositions, not the sound recording by itself
Used for: cover song releases, physical copies, downloads, and some digital music uses
Not the same as: sync rights for pairing music with video, or public performance rights for broadcasting or performing music publicly. WIPO and the U.S. Copyright Office both distinguish these rights from other music-rights categories.

Example:
If an artist records and releases a cover song on a download store or physical format, they usually need a mechanical license for the musical composition that they are reproducing and distributing. Harry Fox explains that a compulsory mechanical license grants permission to reproduce and distribute a musical composition that has already been released to the public.

Gotchas:

  • Mechanical rights cover the composition, not every right connected to the music. You may still need separate permissions for the sound recording, video use, or public performance.
  • Mechanical rights are not the same as sync rights. WIPO’s 2025 webinar materials state that when a song is used in an audiovisual production, a synchronization license is required.
  • In the United States, digital streaming services follow a specific statutory system under the Music Modernization Act, with the Mechanical Licensing Collective administering the blanket license for eligible services.

FAQs

They cover the right to make and distribute copies of a musical composition. WIPO describes these as the rights involved in making and disseminating copies of music.

Primarily to the musical composition, not just the specific sound recording. That is why a release can involve separate rights for the song and the master recording.

Usually, yes, if you are reproducing and distributing the composition in a cover recording.

Not exactly. If you run your own platform or website, you may need to secure mechanical licenses directly, while eligible U.S. digital audio services operate under the MLC blanket-license framework created by the Music Modernization Act.

Depending on the territory and use, the license may be issued by a publisher, subpublisher, collective management organization, or, in the U.S. blanket-license system for eligible digital services, administered through the MLC.

Related terms

Mechanical License • Synchronization Rights • Public Performance Rights • Sound Recording Rights • Cover Song • Publisher • Harry Fox Agency (HFA)