Make Sure You’re Covered
Mechanical Licensing for Cover Songs:
If you’ve recorded a version of another artist’s song and you plan to distribute it online, you’ll need a mechanical license.
COVER SONG
A cover song is any new performance or recording of a song that was previously written, recorded, and
released by someone else. You own the recording (your version), but someone else owns the song itself
— the lyrics, melody and song structure.
MECHANICAL LICENSE
A mechanical license guarantees legal coverage when distributing your version of a cover song and
ensures that the songwriter is fairly compensated.
What does the license do? What am I covered for?
Each license only covers one song, so if you are planning on distributing multiple cover songs, you must obtain a license for each individual song.
The License covers a predetermined amount of units, and once the predetermined amount has been sold, your license will expire. When this happens, you must then relicense and purchase another block of prepaid royalties.
Here’s what you get from Royalty Solutions when you purchase a Limited License:
- Research to determine copyright holders
- Issuance of limited mechanical license(s)
- No charge for Public Domain songs
- Email notification of license completion
- Online access to retrieve completed license(s)
Standard License
A Standard License allows you to distribute an unlimited amount of digital downloads without the worry of overselling and/or re-licensing. Once you’ve purchased a Standard License, you’re covered forever.
Here’s what Royalty Solutions does for you once you purchase a Standard License:
- Research to determine copyright holders
- Issuance of mechanical license(s)
- No charge for Public Domain songs
- Email notification of license completion
- Online access to retrieve completed license(s)
- Calculation, preparation and delivery of quarterly royalty statements (your credit card will be charged per quarter based on your sales)
- Processing and tracking all mechanical royalty payments
- Email notifications
- Coordination with Tunecore in order to properly oversee and deduct the correct royalties from your Tunecore account (12.4 cents per unit sold). NOTE: Royalty fees are paid only after units are sold.
- The Standard License is only available for Digital Products.