Statutory Royalty Rates

The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. offers publishers and licensees a single source for licensing and for the collection and distribution of royalties.

The statutory mechanical royalty rate for physical recordings (such as CDs) and permanent digital downloads is:

9.10 Cents per copy for songs 5 minutes or less
or
1.75 Cents per minute or fraction thereof, per copy for songs over 5 minutes.

*For example:
5:01 to 6:00 = $.105 (6 x $.0175 = $.105)
6:01 to 7:00 = $.1225 (7 x $.0175 = $.1225)
7:01 to 8:00 = $.14 (8 x $.0175 = $.14)

The statutory mechanical royalty rate for ringtones is 24¢ per copy.

The rates for interactive streams and limited downloads are determined by a number of factors. These include service offering type, licensee type, service revenue, recorded content expense, and applicable performance royalty expense. To view a table of rates, click here. To review the basic criteria for statutory licensing of these formats, click here.

Licenses issued after March 1, 2009 are subject to interest for late payments of 1.5% a month, or 18% a year.

These rates will remain in effect until the next schedule of mechanical licensing rates is determined.