Our direct affiliations

Rightstune registers your songs directly with a focused set of collection societies. These partners cover performance, US mechanicals, Core Territory digital streaming via SACEM (France’s collection society), additional digital regions via AMRA, physical royalties, Canada, and niche licensing - so digital money reaches you faster than slow reciprocal chains.

  1. Why a focused set?
  2. How direct collection speeds up payouts
  3. 1. Your PRO (Anglo-American societies)
  4. 2. HFA / The MLC
  5. 3. IMPEL
  6. 4. AMRA
  7. 5. PRS / MCPS
  8. 6. CMRRA
  9. 7. MRI (Music Reports)
The strategy

Why a focused set?

There are hundreds of collection societies worldwide. Many publishing admins lean on reciprocal societies - one society collects in its home territory, then slowly passes money through a chain of partner societies until it finally reaches you. That model is common, but it is also slow: royalties can take 9–12 months to surface after a stream or play happens.

Rightstune takes a different approach. We register you directly with the societies that already sit at the source of the money for each major royalty type:

Together, these cover what matters most for independent songwriters. Digital royalties go through SACEM, France’s collection society (IMPEL Core Territories), and AMRA, plus The MLC in the US, so you get paid sooner - instead of waiting on long reciprocal chains.

Bottom line: a focused set of direct affiliations beats a long reciprocal chain. You get coverage where the money originates, and you get paid sooner.
Payout timing

How direct collection speeds up payouts

Rightstune typically takes about a quarter to your first payout - that is how long it takes societies to process usage, match it, and send us statements. After that first check, we pay out monthly as royalties arrive.

Speed still starts with when the societies themselves release funds. Our core partners are among the fastest in the industry:

Because we collect from societies that already settle on a roughly quarterly cycle - instead of waiting 9–12 months for reciprocal societies to reconcile across borders - we can turn those statements around and then pay you monthly. That is a major reason Rightstune gets money to you faster than admins that depend on slow international pass-throughs.

Affiliation 1

Your PRO (Anglo-American societies)

Performance

Performance royalties are owed whenever your composition is played publicly: radio, TV, live venues, bars and restaurants, and the “performance slice” of music streaming. Almost every country has a Performing Rights Organization (PRO) that collects this money.

To work with Rightstune, you need to be affiliated with an Anglo-American PRO as a writer. These are the societies we can represent you through:

Looking for a PRO in another country? Browse the PRO directory - a full list of societies by territory for reference (not Rightstune’s affiliations), plus the Anglo-American list above and BIEM societies we may support soon.

What it collects

Rightstune registers your songs through MusicMark so they land at your PRO. Performance income splits 50/50: your PRO pays you the writer half in your PRO account, and Rightstune collects the publisher half and pays it out here.

Do you have to register songs at your PRO?

No - that part is optional. Once you are a member of an Anglo-American PRO, Rightstune can handle song registrations for you. You can still file works at your PRO yourself if you want to, but you do not have to.

What you do need: join one of the Anglo-American PROs listed above as a writer and get your IPI / CAE number. We take care of getting your songs registered so the publisher share is not left uncollected.
Affiliation 2

HFA / The MLC

US Mechanical

Mechanical royalties are owed when your composition is reproduced - streamed, downloaded, or pressed to physical formats. In the United States, the primary collector for interactive streaming mechanicals is The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), working alongside the Harry Fox Agency (HFA).

What it collects

Registering with HFA / The MLC covers your US mechanical royalties from streaming, downloads, TikTok, YouTube, and physical sales. One registration reaches both organizations.

Why we use it

The MLC is the direct US source for digital mechanicals under the Music Modernization Act. Collecting here - rather than waiting for foreign societies to send US money back through reciprocal channels - is how we keep US streaming mechanicals on a fast, predictable cycle. The MLC pays within about one quarter.

Affiliation 3

IMPEL

Core Territory Digital

IMPEL is an international collective of independent music publishers. Rightstune’s IMPEL registration covers IMPEL’s Core Territories only - the regions every IMPEL member commits to. That is Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Indian subcontinent (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka).

How we collect there: SACEM

IMPEL’s main licensing partner for Core Territories is SACEM, France’s collection society (the Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique — the French society for authors, composers, and music publishers). That is how digital uses on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, and Deezer get licensed and paid across most of Europe, Africa, and the regions above.

SACEM also has a large licensing team. That matters beyond streaming: European law is among the most active in the world on AI training and usage of music, and a direct SACEM path is a strong look for licensing those other avenues as they open up.

What it collects

Through SACEM, IMPEL helps Rightstune collect digital mechanicals in Core Territories. On the performance side, matching also helps route usage data so royalties reach your PRO correctly. Your PRO still pays your writer share; Rightstune collects the publisher share (50% of performance).

Coverage note: The US and Canada are handled by The MLC / HFA and CMRRA - not via IMPEL. Digital royalties outside Core Territories (Southeast Asia, Japan, Oceania, and Brazil mechanicals) are collected through AMRA, a separate Rightstune affiliation that is on by default.

Why we use it

Some publishing admins depend on reciprocal societies to gather international digital royalties country by country. That money can take 9–12 months to filter back. Licensing Core Territories through SACEM puts digital rights closer to the source - leading DSPs are typically processed about one quarter after usage - which is a big part of why Rightstune can get that streaming money to you after about a quarter, then monthly thereafter.

Affiliation 4

AMRA

Additional Digital

AMRA covers digital royalties in the regions IMPEL’s SACEM Core Territories do not: Southeast Asia (excluding China), Japan, Oceania, and Brazil (mechanical rights). Rightstune registers everyone with AMRA by default so those streams are claimed directly instead of sitting on slow reciprocal chains.

What it collects

Think of AMRA as the digital complement to IMPEL / SACEM. Core Territories go through SACEM; AMRA picks up the remaining digital map Rightstune can claim directly.

Why we use it

Without a direct AMRA registration, usage in those regions would wait on reciprocal societies - often 9–12 months, if it matches at all. AMRA, like SACEM, typically processes leading DSP royalties about one quarter after usage.

Affiliation 5

PRS / MCPS

Global Physical

MCPS (Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society) works with PRS for Music in the UK. MCPS has reciprocal agreements - our indirect affiliations - for mechanicals covering about 100+ territories and societies, which allow us to collect physical royalties for the rest of the world. Rightstune only authorizes them to collect physical royalties for you.

What it collects for Rightstune writers

When your song is pressed to CD or vinyl, or used by physical media manufacturers, MCPS is where those physical royalties are claimed. Digital mechanicals are handled separately by our direct partners - IMPEL / SACEM and AMRA internationally, and The MLC in the US - because that path is faster.

Why not digital through MCPS? MCPS could collect digital mechanicals via reciprocal agreements, but those chains are slower. We use IMPEL / SACEM, AMRA, and The MLC for digital instead, so streaming money reaches you sooner.

Why we use it

Physical sales still generate real royalties - and they are easy to miss if you only register with digital-focused societies. Through those reciprocal (indirect) affiliations across 100+ territories and societies, MCPS covers that physical lane for the rest of the world while IMPEL / SACEM, AMRA, and The MLC handle the faster digital path.

Affiliation 6

CMRRA

Canada Mechanical

Canada is a special case in our digital map. IMPEL does not collect mechanicals in Canada, so we register with the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) to close that gap.

What it collects

CMRRA collects mechanical royalties when your music is streamed, sold, or broadcast in Canada - including CD and vinyl sales and the private copying fund. CMRRA also sends data to MDX (Music Data Exchange), which notifies record labels that your share exists when any labels have ownership shares in the recordings - helping surface additional money tied to those releases.

Why we use it

Without CMRRA, Canadian mechanicals would either go unclaimed or fall into a slower reciprocal path. Direct CMRRA registration keeps Canada covered alongside IMPEL / SACEM Core Territories and AMRA digital collection.

Affiliation 7

MRI (Music Reports)

Licensing / Admin

Not every use of your music shows up at a traditional PRO or mechanical society. MRI (Music Reports) pays for usage on apps and services that most societies skip - often platforms that settled licensing after being sued for using music without permission.

What it collects

Think fitness apps, social platforms, karaoke and learning tools, and similar niche services. These companies frequently send royalties to MRI so publishers can claim them.

Why we use it

MRI catches money that would otherwise never appear in a PRO or MLC statement. It is a smaller slice than IMPEL or The MLC for most writers, but it is money you would miss entirely without a direct affiliation here.

Putting it together

Focused sources. Clear jobs. Faster money.

Your Anglo-American PRO handles performance (and filing songs there yourself is optional - we can do that for you). The MLC / HFA handles US digital mechanicals. IMPEL covers Core Territory digital via SACEM, France’s collection society (Europe, Africa, the Middle East, CIS, and the Indian subcontinent) and helps match performance royalties to your PRO. AMRA covers additional digital regions. MCPS handles physical royalties worldwide. CMRRA covers Canada. MRI picks up niche platforms everyone else skips.

That focused set is why we do not need dozens of local society memberships - and why collecting digital through SACEM, AMRA, and The MLC (instead of slow reciprocal chains) lets Rightstune reach a first payout in about a quarter, then pay you monthly.

Want a plain-English comparison with other admins? Read vs Songtrust, vs TuneCore, and vs BeatStars.

Want the product walkthrough of how registration works day to day? Start with What is Publishing Administration? Then see How to Sign Up.

Ready to collect from these societies?

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