We are officially partnered with Affordable Song Licensing to help our independent artists and labels obtain compulsory mechanical licenses.

With RouteNote, artists can legally distribute their cover songs worldwide to streaming services like Spotify, Deezer, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Nuuday, Anghami, TIDAL, KKBOX and JioSaavn without a license. If you want to distribute your release to all stores, including those that offer digital downloads such as iTunes/Apple Music and Amazon Music, you will need to exclude the following territories: USA, Canada, Mexico, India and Pakistan.

To distribute to all stores in the US, or if you are looking to sell physical copies, you will need a mechanical license. This is where our new partner Affordable Song Licensing comes in.

Affordable Song Licensing have been helping artists purchase compulsory mechanical license since 2016 and proudly “have the lowest fee out of any third party licensing agency” for standalone mechanical licenses. Licenses on Affordable Song Licensing cost just $12 per song + royalties. This covers both digital and physical sales in the US.

Royalties are set by copyright law and are the same regardless of which third party licensing agency you use. Royalty rates are dependent on the length of the song and how many downloads you think you’ll sell. It is important to keep an eye on your RouteNote statistics to ensure you keep within the sales you purchased on your mechanical license. Royalties rates start at just $3, for tracks under five minutes and the minimum quantity of sales, which is 25 downloads on Affordable Song Licensing. Find out how royalty rates are calculated here.

How to buy a mechanical license

Affordable Song Licensing makes it easy to purchase mechanical licenses.

  1. Sign up to Affordable Song Licensing
  2. Tell them about yourself
  3. Add song info
  4. Pay
  5. Get your license!

Once you’ve purchased your license, attach it to an email and send it over to moderation@routenote.com, along with the UPC of your release.

For worldwide releases, Affordable Song Licensing can help you request a custom license from rights holders and publishers. Custom licenses can also be useful for those looking to change the lyrics, use samples, release a music video and other instances. Find out more about custom licenses from Affordable Song Licenses here.

So what are you waiting for? Head to Affordable Song Licensing today to purchase a mechanical license and start distributing your cover songs.