Major Labels Propose Freezing Mechanical Royalty Rates Through 2032
On July 1, 2026, Digital Music News reported that the three major labels, the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the Music Artists Coalition, and the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) have proposed a settlement to the Copyright Royalty Board covering mechanical royalty rates for physical formats, permanent downloads, and ringtones from 2028 through 2032.
The Independent Music Brief | July 3, 2026
The proposal is simple: keep the current rates in place, adjusting them only for inflation. The 2026 rate is 13.1 cents per song (or 2.52 cents per minute of playing time, whichever is higher), with annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index.
Not everyone signed on. The Songwriters Guild of America, Jeff Price's Word Collections, Eminem's publisher Eight Mile Style, and copyright-reform activist George Johnson are preparing an objection. They want a 15.65-cent rate instead. Johnson told DMN the group was never even given the chance to weigh in: "We didn't deny the settlement. We were never sent a settlement to deny."
This isn't the first time this fight has happened. In 2022, the Copyright Royalty Board rejected a similar rate freeze, warning that the "vertical integration linking music publishers and record labels" was a red flag. In other words, when a major label and its affiliated publisher sit on opposite sides of a negotiating table, they aren't really opposite sides.
Why This Matters for Independent Songwriters
The Copyright Royalty Board sets the mechanical rate that applies every time a song is reproduced: every vinyl record, every CD, every cassette, every permanent download. This rate isn't negotiable. A songwriter can't ask for more money on a vinyl pressing. The statutory rate is the rate, whether you're signed to a major or entirely self-released.
That's what makes this settlement significant. When the biggest labels and publishers agree on a number and bring it to the CRB, that number tends to become the baseline for the whole market, including for songwriters who had no seat at the table.
One notable shift from last time: A2IM, the trade group representing independent labels, opposed the previous settlement in 2022. This time, it's supporting the freeze. That makes some sense from a label's perspective. Independent labels pay mechanical royalties on the records they press, and with vinyl sales strong again, keeping that rate flat protects their margins. But it also means independent labels and independent songwriters don't have identical interests here. Labels benefit from a capped rate. Writers are the ones who absorb it. A settlement backed by an "independent" trade group isn't automatically good for independent writers.
Why "Legacy" Formats Are a Big Deal Again
Physical formats and downloads aren't really legacy formats for independent artists anymore. Vinyl passed $1 billion in US revenue in 2025. Bandcamp's entire business model runs on physical sales and downloads. For a lot of independent artists, per-unit mechanical royalties from a vinyl pressing are some of the most straightforward money they make, especially compared to the fractions of a cent that streaming pays out.
Locking that rate in place, adjusted only for inflation, through 2032 matters more now than it would have five or ten years ago.
Here's what the gap looks like in real numbers: a 10-song album pressed in a run of 1,000 copies generates a mechanical royalty pool of $1,310 at the current rate. At the proposed 15.65-cent rate, that same pressing generates $1,565. Multiply that across a catalog and a five-year rate period, and it adds up to real money.
Self-released artists who write their own songs might not notice this much, since the mechanical royalty is essentially money moving between their own accounts. But the moment another artist covers your song, or a label presses it, or someone else sells the download, the statutory rate becomes the entire negotiation.
There's also history here worth remembering. The last Phonorecords settlement, on the streaming side, was negotiated quickly and presented as a done deal. DMN describes what followed as a disaster: it opened the door to subscription bundling that sharply cut mechanical payouts. The new filing seems aware of that history. It explicitly states it represents "the entire understanding of the parties," a clause likely included because the 2022 settlement partly fell apart over an undisclosed side agreement between the majors and NMPA.
What Independent Songwriters Can Do
The Copyright Royalty Board process allows for public objections and comments, and the objectors' filing is expected later this month. The CRB has shown before, in 2022, that organized opposition can send a settlement back to the table.
Independent songwriters, publishers, and administrators have a real opportunity to submit evidence about what physical and download income actually looks like for working independent artists, and what a rate that barely keeps pace with inflation means for smaller catalogs.
For independent labels, this is worth sitting with directly: your trade association has backed the rate freeze. If you also work with songwriters or run a publishing arm, it's worth understanding how this decision affects them, not just your own pressing costs.
This physical-rate settlement is also likely to set the tone for a bigger fight ahead: streaming mechanical rates for the same 2028–2032 period, where the stakes and dollar amounts are much larger. If the CRB approves this settlement without pushback, it signals that pre-negotiated deals will sail through unchallenged. If it gets scrutinized the way the 2022 version was, it signals the opposite.
Independent songwriters don't have a vote on the Copyright Royalty Board, but they can submit comments and evidence. Whether the final rate lands at 13.1 cents or 15.65 cents may come down to who actually shows up to the process.
Questions Worth Asking
If you're an independent songwriter: Do you know how much of your income depends on the statutory mechanical rate? Are you planning to weigh in on this settlement, or letting it pass by?
If you run an independent label: Your trade group signed onto this settlement. Have you thought through what it means for the songwriters on your own roster?
If you're an independent publisher or rights administrator: If this goes to a contested proceeding, do you have data ready that shows what physical and download revenue really looks like for independent catalogs?
If you work in songwriter advocacy: What does real scrutiny of a "smooth" settlement look like, given what happened last time one went through quickly?
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Sources: Digital Music News — Phonorecords V Settlement Proposal Emerges: Major Labels, NMPA, A2IM, and Others Say the Existing Rates 'Should Not Be Amended' · Music Business Worldwide — Breaking Wave Group Launched by UK Music Execs · Hypebot — NIVA, Bandsintown Survey Tracks State of Indie Live Events