Understanding the difference between mechanical and performance rights in music

In the music industry, two terms that often come up in conversations about royalties are mechanical rights and performance rights. While they may sound similar, they cover very different uses of music and determine how songwriters, publishers, and sometimes performers get paid.

Mechanical rights

Mechanical rights are tied to the reproduction and distribution of a musical composition. This applies to the underlying song itself, not the specific sound recording. Any time a song is copied, sold, or streamed interactively, mechanical royalties are generated.

Examples include making CDs, pressing vinyl records, selling digital downloads on platforms like iTunes, or offering songs through interactive streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. These royalties are paid to songwriters and their music publishers, and in countries like the United States, agencies such as the Harry Fox Agency or The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) often handle these collections.

Performance rights

Performance rights, on the other hand, are connected to the public performance or broadcasting of a song. This goes beyond live concerts and includes radio airplay, TV broadcasts, background music in restaurants or gyms, and non-interactive streaming on services like Pandora.

These royalties also flow to songwriters and publishers, but instead of mechanical agencies, they are managed by Performance Rights Organizations (PROs). In the U.S., these include ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, while in the UK it is PRS, and in Ghana, COSGA.

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