How to Register Your Music with The MLC: The Ultimate Guide to Claiming Uncollected US Streaming Royalties

Let’s be honest for a second. If you are an independent artist, self-published songwriter, or DIY producer, the business side of the music industry can feel like a maze wrapped in a riddle. You spend weeks sweating over the mix, designing the cover art, uploading your music to a distributor like DistroKid or TuneCore, and finally pushing that release live.

Then, the streams start rolling in. You check your Spotify for Artists or Apple Music for Artists dashboard, and while the numbers look exciting, you know that performance royalties from your PRO (like ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC) are only telling part of the story.

What about mechanical royalties? Every single time someone streams your track in the United States, your composition generates a digital mechanical royalty. If you aren’t registered in the right places, those pennies—which add up to serious money over thousands or millions of streams—get dumped into a massive financial pool known in the industry as the “black box.”

Enter The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC).

If you want to stop leaving your hard-earned digital publishing money on the table, you need to claim it. This comprehensive, human-written guide will walk you through everything you need to know about The MLC, why it matters to your bottom line, and an actionable, step-by-step walkthrough on how to register your work and get your royalties routing straight to your bank account.

What Exactly is The MLC and Why Should You Care?

Before we dive into the how-to, let’s clear up the confusion around what The MLC actually is.

Passed in late 2018, the Music Modernization Act (MMA) changed the US music publishing landscape forever. Before the MMA, digital service providers (DSPs) like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and YouTube Music had a notoriously difficult time clearing mechanical licensing for every single composition attached to a sound recording. This resulted in billions of dollars in unpaid, unmatched mechanical royalties sitting idle.

To fix this, the U.S. Copyright Office designated The MLC—a non-profit organization—to build and maintain a massive public musical works database. Their single most important job? To collect digital mechanical royalties from these streaming services and distribute them directly to the rightful songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers.

If you are self-published (meaning you don’t have a traditional publishing deal administering your songs worldwide), The MLC is the definitive gateway to collecting your digital streaming mechanicals in the United States. Without an account, your share of that matching pool risks sitting unclaimed or being distributed out to other publishers over time.

What You Need Before You Start Registering

Nothing kills momentum quite like sitting down to do administrative work, only to realize you’re missing half the required information. Before you open a new tab to go register, take 10 minutes to gather your assets.

Having these pieces of metadata ready will make the registration process smooth and error-free:

• Your Personal & Business Info: Whether you’re registering as an individual self-published songwriter or under an LLC/publishing company name, have your legal name, address, tax ID (EIN or SSN), and direct deposit banking info ready.

• The Song Title & Exact Duration: Sounds simple, but typos happen. Make sure the title matches your release and note the exact runtime down to the second.

• Your IPI Number: Your Interested Parties Information (IPI) number is your unique global ID as a writer or publisher. If you don’t know it, log into your PRO portal (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC) or search your name in public databases like the ACE Repertory or BMI Repertoire.

• ISWC Codes (If Available): The International Standard Musical Work Code is like an ISBN number for your composition. Your distributor might generate one later, or you can request one if your publishing is managed elsewhere, but don’t panic if you don’t have it on day one.

• Co-Writer Splits: If you wrote the song with anyone else, you need to know the exact ownership percentage for every single contributor. Total agreement here is critical.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Register Your Work on The MLC

With your metadata in hand, you’re ready to tackle the portal. The MLC interface is surprisingly clean, but it pays to go slow and double-check your entries. Here is how to navigate the system like a pro:

Step 1: Create and Verify Your Account at themlc.com

Head over to the official website at themlc.com and click through to set up an account.

• Choose your profile type: Select whether you are registering as a self-published songwriter or a music publisher.

• Fill out your profile: Complete the verification steps, input your tax documentation (W-9 or W-8BEN depending on your location), and securely link your bank account for direct deposit. Skipping the banking step means your royalties will just sit there waiting for a payout trigger later, so do it now.

Step 2: Access the Works Portal

Once your account is approved and you are logged into your member dashboard, look for the Works portal. This is the command center for your entire catalog.

• Click on the option that says Register New Work.

• You will be given choices on how to register—you can submit songs individually via an online form, or if you have a massive catalog, you can upload via batch files (though for most independent artists starting out, single entry is the way to go).

Step 3: Input Track Metadata Accurately

This is where SEO for your publishing pays off. Clean, accurate metadata ensures that when a streaming service reports a stream, The MLC’s matching engine instantly pairs it to your account.

• Song Title: Type the official title of the composition.

• Track Duration: Input the exact runtime.

• Identifiers: Drop in your ISWC code if you have it. Most importantly, input your assigned IPI number. This links the song directly to your writer identity, preventing your royalties from getting mixed up with another artist who shares your name.

Step 4: Add Co-Writers and Lock in Ownership Percentages

This step requires absolute transparency and communication with your collaborators.

• Add every single co-writer who contributed to the music or lyrics.

• Assign precise publisher ownership percentages to each writer (or their respective publishers).

• The Golden Rule: The total percentages across all writers and publishers must total exactly 100%. If you own 50% and your co-writer owns 50%, type those in clearly. Getting these splits right ensures that mechanical royalty payouts route straight to your respective bank accounts without getting flagged for disputes.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Registering

Even experienced artists sometimes trip up on publishing admin. Keep these common pitfalls in mind to save yourself months of back-and-forth corrections:

• Forgetting to Register Both Sides: If you write your own music and don’t have a publishing deal, you act as both the songwriter and the publisher. Make sure you claim both shares so you collect 100% of the mechanical pie, rather than just the writer’s share.

• Mismatched Titles: If your song is titled “Midnight Drive (feat. John Doe)” on Spotify, but you register it strictly as “Midnight Drive” on The MLC, automated matching can sometimes fail or lag. Keep your titles clean and consistent.

• Ignoring Split Disputes: If you and a co-writer accidentally submit conflicting splits (e.g., you claim 60% and they claim 50%), The MLC will place a hold on payouts for that work until the dispute is resolved. Talk to your co-writers before you submit!

Final Thoughts: Take Control of Your Publishing Revenue

Registering your catalog with The MLC isn’t the most glamorous part of being a musician. It won’t give you an instant rush like hearing your mix played back in the studio or seeing a playlist add.

However, taking the time to set up your account, enter your metadata correctly, and lock down your co-writer splits is a rite of passage for any serious independent artist. It’s the difference between letting your streaming pennies vanish into the industry “black box” and building a sustainable, professional career where every single dollar you generate finds its way home to your bank account.

Log on, get your catalog registered, and make sure you’re getting paid for every single stream.