The Copyright Royalty Board: Who Actually Sets Songwriters' Royalty Rates

Most songwriters who have been paid mechanical royalties for streaming activity have never heard of the body that decided exactly how much they would be paid per stream. The Copyright Royalty Board is a federal quasi-judicial body that sets the mechanical and digital performance royalty rates that flow through the entire US music publishing ecosystem, and understanding how it works is fundamental for any songwriter or small publisher who cares about the economics of their catalog.

What the Copyright Royalty Board Is

The Copyright Royalty Board, or CRB, operates within the Library of Congress and is staffed by three Copyright Royalty Judges appointed by the Librarian of Congress. Its core function is conducting formal rate-setting proceedings, called Phonorecords proceedings, that establish the mechanical royalty rates that music services must pay to use compositions through compulsory license.

Before the Music Modernization Act of 2018, the CRB rate-setting process was notorious for producing outcomes that skewed toward the interests of the largest music services because the proceedings were structured in ways that made meaningful participation by smaller rights holders prohibitively expensive. A major label or a major music publisher could mount the expert witnesses, economic models, and legal arguments required by the formal hearing process. An independent songwriter or small publisher generally could not.

The Copyright Office's Music Modernization overview documents how Title I of the MMA attempted to address this by reforming the compulsory licensing framework, creating the Mechanical Licensing Collective, and changing how the CRB is supposed to weigh competing interests in rate proceedings. The Wikipedia overview of the Music Modernization Act provides the legislative history context in a stable, citable format.

Phonorecords IV and the Current Rates

The CRB's most recently concluded major proceeding is Phonorecords IV, which established mechanical royalty rates effective January 1, 2023 for the 2023 through 2027 rate period. The settlement was announced August 31, 2022, and the CRB's final rule was published December 30, 2022, according to the CRB official rate proceedings page. The headline streaming mechanical rate under Phonorecords IV is 15.1% of service revenue in 2023, escalating to 15.35% by 2027, with the higher of the per-stream or percentage-of-revenue calculation applying to each service's actual payments. Parties to the settlement included the NMPA and NSAI (representing copyright owners) against major services including Amazon, Apple, Google, Pandora, and Spotify.

The practical rate for most independent songwriters comes through the Mechanical Licensing Collective, which aggregates the mechanical royalties from streaming services and distributes them to registered rights holders. The MLC's rates are set by the CRB through these proceedings. Understanding that connection, from your streaming plays to the MLC distribution to the CRB rate, is the full chain that determines your mechanical income from streaming.

The Suffolk University Journal of High Technology Law's analysis of the MMA and streaming royalties provides a more technical breakdown of how the Phonorecords IV rates compare to the pre-MMA landscape and what the changes meant for songwriter income at various streaming volumes. The short version: the rates improved modestly, but the absolute dollar values for most independent songwriters remain low because per-stream rates are applied to a massive denominator of total streams.

The Phonorecords V Proceedings

Phonorecords IV rates run through 2027. The CRB commenced the Phonorecords V proceeding on January 6, 2026, per the CRB announcements page, to set mechanical royalty rates for the 2028 through 2032 rate period. Rates for Phonorecords V have not yet been determined as of mid-2026; hearings are expected to run through 2026 and 2027. The outcome will shape songwriter mechanical income for years, and major publishers and streaming services are already engaged in the proceeding.

The CRB accepts public comment from any rights holder, including independent songwriters and small publishers. This is a formal mechanism for participation in rate-setting that most independent musicians have never used, partly because they are unaware it exists. The docket for CRB proceedings is publicly accessible at crb.gov/rate, and any party with a legitimate interest in the rates being set can submit comment.

Mollohan Production Inc. is exactly the kind of small publisher that has a stake in CRB proceedings. Joshua has made the point, within From The Stem's coverage, that understanding the regulatory framework that sets your income is a basic requirement of operating as a professional rights holder. Filing a public comment in a CRB proceeding is a low-cost way to make an independent voice part of the formal record, even if the outcome is largely determined by the resources of major industry participants.

Why Rates Stay Low Despite Industry Revenue Growth

One of the persistent frustrations for independent songwriters is that overall music industry revenue has grown substantially through the streaming era while per-stream mechanical rates have remained extremely low in absolute terms. Understanding why requires understanding the structure of the CRB proceedings.

The mechanical rate for interactive streaming is calculated as a percentage of service revenue, subject to floors and minimums. But service revenue is distributed across billions of streams. When total industry streaming revenue grows, the total mechanical royalty pool grows with it, but the per-stream rate remains low because the pool is divided by an ever-larger number of streams.

This is not a conspiracy by streaming services. It is a mathematical feature of the rate structure. What it means for independent songwriters is that income grows with streaming volume, not automatically with industry revenue growth. An artist with 10 million streams in a year where the total royalty pool grew 10% earns approximately 10% more from those 10 million streams, not an increase based on the total pool size.

The Royalty Exchange mechanical royalties overview provides a practical breakdown of how mechanical rates are calculated and how catalog value is assessed in the secondary market for publishing rights, which is relevant for any songwriter considering the long-term financial value of their catalog.

What Independent Songwriters Should Do

Register your compositions with a Performing Rights Organization and your publisher with the Mechanical Licensing Collective if you have not done so. Verify that your existing catalog is correctly matched in the MLC's database, since unmatched compositions accumulate in the MLC's unclaimed royalty pool and must be claimed within a specified window.

Search the CRB's public docket for the current proceedings, including any comments filed in connection with Phonorecords V as those proceedings develop. If you want to submit a comment, the process requires identifying yourself as a rights holder and submitting through the formal docket system. The Copyright Office and the CRB's official site are the authoritative sources.

Finally, track the MMA implementation milestones. The law includes reporting requirements and accountability mechanisms that give rights holders tools to verify the MLC is operating as intended. Knowing when reporting deadlines occur and what they require gives independent publishers leverage they did not have before 2018.

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FAQ

Q: What is the Copyright Royalty Board and what does it do? The Copyright Royalty Board is a federal quasi-judicial body that sets the mechanical and digital royalty rates governing how much music services must pay songwriters and publishers under compulsory license. Its rate-setting proceedings, called Phonorecords proceedings, determine the mechanical income for every songwriter whose compositions are streamed in the United States.

Q: What is Phonorecords IV? Phonorecords IV is the CRB rate proceeding that established mechanical royalty rates effective January 1, 2023 for the 2023 through 2027 rate period, at 15.1% of service streaming revenue in 2023, escalating to 15.35% by 2027, per the CRB rate proceedings page. It incorporated modest improvements to the rates songwriters earn compared to the previous proceeding.

Q: What is Phonorecords V and when does it take effect? Phonorecords V is the CRB proceeding to set mechanical royalty rates for 2028 through 2032. The CRB commenced the proceeding on January 6, 2026. Rates have not yet been determined; hearings are expected through 2026 and 2027, per the CRB announcements page.

Q: Can independent songwriters participate in CRB rate proceedings? Yes. The CRB accepts public comment from any rights holder. The docket is accessible at crb.gov/rate, and submitting a comment is a formal way to make an independent voice part of the record even if the ultimate outcome is dominated by major industry participants.

Q: Why haven't my per-stream earnings grown even though the streaming market has grown? Because per-stream rates are a function of a percentage of revenue divided by total streams. As total streams grow faster than revenue in some years, per-stream rates can stagnate even when total royalty pools grow. Your income grows with your personal streaming volume, not proportionally with total industry revenue.

Q: Where do I start if I want to understand whether my catalog is properly registered for mechanical royalties? Begin with the Mechanical Licensing Collective's database to verify your compositions are claimed and matched correctly. Then review your registration with your PRO to confirm performance royalties are flowing. The Copyright Office Music Modernization resources provide the legislative context for both.

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