Mechanical music royalty collections have shifted decisively toward digital uses. BIEM members reported €2.4 billion in total mechanical-rights collections in 2024, while The MLC processed $1.05 billion in U.S. streaming-related distributions during the same year. The figures below separate mechanical-specific measures from broader music-rights context and keep each source’s geography and measurement period explicit.
Contents
- Worldwide mechanical-rights collection scale
- Long-run mechanical collections and format shifts
- U.S. streaming mechanical royalty collections
- Matching, unmatched money, and catalog coverage
- European mechanical-royalty collection examples
- Broader global music-rights context
Worldwide mechanical-rights collection scale
BIEM members reported €2.4 billion in total mechanical-rights collections in 2024. According to BIEM’s homepage, that total increased 4.13% from the prior year. The same source shows a market increasingly shaped by digital uses rather than offline exploitation.
Digital mechanical-rights collections grew 12% in 2024 and represented 62% of BIEM’s mechanical-rights collections. Streaming mechanical-rights collections grew 26% during the year. By contrast, offline mechanical-rights collections fell 8.2% and accounted for less than 10% of BIEM’s total mechanical-rights collections.
These measures describe collections reported by BIEM members, not a universal accounting total for every mechanical royalty collected worldwide. They are still useful for showing the relative direction of the market: digital uses formed the largest identified share, streaming grew faster than digital collections overall, and offline uses represented a small portion of the reported total.
| BIEM measure | 2024 result |
|---|---|
| Total mechanical-rights collections | €2.4 billion |
| Change in total collections | +4.13% |
| Digital collection growth | +12% |
| Digital share of collections | 62% |
| Streaming collection growth | +26% |
| Offline collection change | -8.2% |
| Offline share of collections | Less than 10% |
Source for all rows: Homepage | BIEM, 2024.
Long-run mechanical collections and format shifts
BIEM’s milestone data places 2000 mechanical-rights collections at €2.38 billion, a useful long-run reference point alongside the 2024 total. The series also records when online and streaming uses became visible in the collection mix. BIEM’s milestones report that online mechanicals represented 3.2% of total mechanical-rights collections when BIEM first reported them in 2003.
The digital share expanded over time. Streaming represented 14.7% of total mechanical-rights collections in 2017, while downloading represented 6.5% in that year. By 2021, digital mechanicals accounted for more than 50% of total mechanical-rights collections, and streaming alone represented 25%.
The measurements are not a complete annual time series, so they should be read as selected milestones rather than a calculated growth path. They do show a clear change in composition: online mechanicals began as a small reported category, streaming became a material share by 2017, and digital mechanicals exceeded half of total collections by 2021.
| Reported milestone | Share or amount |
|---|---|
| BIEM mechanical collections, 2000 | €2.38 billion |
| Online mechanicals, 2003 | 3.2% of total collections |
| Streaming, 2017 | 14.7% of total collections |
| Downloading, 2017 | 6.5% of total collections |
| Digital mechanicals, 2021 | More than 50% of total collections |
| Streaming, 2021 | 25% of total collections |
Source: Our Milestones | BIEM. The historical figures retain the periods reported by BIEM and are not independently re-estimated here.
U.S. streaming mechanical royalty collections
The U.S. figures from The MLC’s 2024 Annual Royalty Recap describe 12 monthly royalty distributions completed in 2024. The MLC processed $1.05 billion across those distributions and directly distributed $814.7 million in royalties. Usage covered by DSP voluntary licenses was valued at an additional $45.0 million in the 2024 distribution cycle, bringing total royalties distributed during 2024 to $859.7 million when that voluntary-license usage is included.
The distribution figures cover different categories within the reported cycle, so they should not be combined into a new total beyond The MLC’s stated $859.7 million figure. The source also reports that the average initial match rate for the 2024 distributions was 84.1%. Reprocessing raised the average current match rate to 89.8% by February 2025.
Additional royalty payments continued for earlier periods. The MLC paid approximately $46.5 million in additional royalties for the nine distribution periods completed in 2021, approximately $41.7 million for the 12 periods completed in 2022, and approximately $44.4 million for the 12 periods completed in 2023. These amounts were updated in February 2025 and refer to their respective historical distribution periods.
At the end of 2024, The MLC was holding approximately $519.8 million in blanket royalties pending distribution. Within that amount, blanket unmatched royalties totaled approximately $273.8 million, or 8.4% of the total royalty pools processed at that point. Blanket unclaimed royalties totaled approximately $225.2 million, or 6.9% of processed pools, while blanket held royalties totaled approximately $20.8 million.
Matching, unmatched money, and catalog coverage
The MLC’s 2024 Annual Report reports $850,696,703.17 in royalties related to 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021 usage during its 2024 operations. It also designated $5,200,614.45 in matched royalties for distribution when adjustments were processed. These are reported operational figures, and the report’s stated scope should be kept with the amounts.
The scale of the matching task is reflected in the catalog. The MLC database contained more than 44.4 million musical works as of December 2024, and The MLC processed more than 11 million new musical-work registrations during 2024. As of December 2024, 54 digital music providers operated as blanket licensees under The MLC, while six operated as significant nonblanket licensees.
Reprocessing improved average match rates for each usage year. By March 2025, the average 2021 match rate had reached 93.4%, the 2022 rate 92.7%, the 2023 rate 91.4%, and the 2024 rate 89.1%. These dates matter: the rates describe later reprocessing as of March 2025, not necessarily the initial result for each year’s distributions.
The membership base also expanded. The MLC had more than 50,000 Members as of December 2024 and added more than 16,000 Members during 2024. For independent producers and songwriters, those figures illustrate why accurate work and ownership data remain central to the collection process: a large catalog, many registrations, and multiple provider categories all have to be connected to the correct rights information.
European mechanical-royalty collection examples
Stemra’s Dutch figures provide a country-level example, but its total collection figures are broader than mechanical rights alone. The Annual Report 2024 reports total copyright-royalty collections of €53.498 million in 2024, compared with €47.492 million in 2023, €44.522 million in 2022, €40.210 million in 2021, €35.997 million in 2020, and €32.197 million in 2019.
The report separately identifies relevant categories. Stemra collected €6.745 million from phono-mechanical BIEM and central-licensing rights in 2024. It collected €24.273 million from online rights in 2024, compared with €18.562 million from online rights in 2023. Online rights represented 45% of Stemra’s total collection in 2024.
| Stemra measure | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total copyright-royalty collection | €32.197m | €35.997m | €40.210m | €44.522m | €47.492m | €53.498m |
| Online rights | — | — | — | — | €18.562m | €24.273m |
The total-collection row is not a mechanical-only series. The phono-mechanical and online figures are included because Stemra identifies those categories directly, while the broader totals provide context for the scale of the Dutch society’s collection activity.
Broader global music-rights context
The CISAC Global Collections Report 2025 reports that CISAC member societies collected €12.59 billion in music royalties globally in 2024, up 7.2% from the prior year. The report also records €5.14 billion in digital royalties across creator repertoires, with global digital royalties growing 11.2% in 2024. CISAC member societies collected €3.60 billion from live and background uses in 2024.
These CISAC figures are broader creator-royalty context, not mechanical-only collections. They should not be relabeled as mechanical royalties or directly compared with BIEM’s mechanical-rights total without accounting for the different collection scopes.
For comparison, the Global Collections Report 2024 reports €11.75 billion in global music royalties collected by CISAC member societies in 2023, growth of 7.6%, and €4.62 billion in digital royalties across creator repertoires. Global digital royalties grew 9.6% in 2023 under that report’s scope.
| CISAC measure | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Global music royalties | €11.75bn | €12.59bn |
| Reported annual growth | 7.6% | 7.2% |
| Digital royalties across creator repertoires | €4.62bn | €5.14bn |
| Reported digital growth | 9.6% | 11.2% |
The CISAC series helps place mechanical-rights collection activity inside the wider rights economy, while BIEM and The MLC provide the more specific mechanical measures. For production businesses, the practical distinction is important: a global music-rights total can indicate market scale, but it does not by itself identify the portion attributable to mechanical royalties.