The Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) has unveiled an enhanced operating model that will see it work directly with an expanded network of specialist partners from early 2027.
Announced today (September 24) at the MCPS Annual Rightsholder Meeting, hosted at the Royal Society of Arts, the new model is designed to strengthen how the organisation protects rights, licenses repertoire, collects revenues and distributes mechanical royalties on behalf of its composer, songwriter, lyricist and music publisher members.
It will also give MCPS – part of the MPA Group – a more direct role in major licensing negotiations and create further opportunities to grow revenues for members.
The changes follow a comprehensive review of how MCPS operates, works with partners and serves its members.
It builds on a decade of growth in which annual distributions increased from £140.1 million in 2015 to £219.9m in 2025, while membership grew from around 23,000 to 47,000 over the same period. Since the turn of the century, MCPS has distributed almost £5 billion in mechanical royalties.
Under the new model, MCPS will contract directly with ICE Services – the global digital music licensing and processing hub established by GEMA (Germany), PRS for Music (UK) and STIM (Sweden).
ICE Services will provide multi-territory online licensing for streaming, downloads and AI platforms, alongside copyright services for MCPS’s new partners. This will help MCPS maximise the territorial scope of digital licensing agreements for the repertoire it is mandated to represent.
The market for mechanical rights continues to evolve quickly, creating significant and exciting opportunities for our members
Paul Clements
MCPS will also partner with the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) on international licensing and collections. The organisations will work together to review reciprocal agreements and maintain an up-to-date picture of rights mandates, with the aim of increasing the value of international collections.
For members who mandate their sync rights to MCPS, Swedish platform MAIA Universe will provide automated licensing services for uses including advertising, film and video games. MCPS will first run a pilot in early 2027, ahead of a wider roll later in the year.
Participation will remain optional for members and MCPS will continue to provide a direct sync licensing service for repertoire that is not made available through the platform.
MCPS will also take direct responsibility for production music rate card licensing (non-commercially released music used within TV, film and adverts) through a new portal, including directly liaising with licensees.
PRS For Music will remain a core strategic partner to MCPS, continuing a relationship spanning 30 years. MCPS and PRS will jointly negotiate major mechanical and performance licensing agreements across General Entertainment Online Licensing (GEOL), broadcast, UK online and gaming, and will continue to collaborate on mechanical-only licensing.
PRS will also continue to provide member services and royalty distributions, alongside licensing, usage processing, invoicing and collections across several MCPS revenue streams. Day-to-day copyright and agreement registrations and amendments, mandate queries and distribution queries will continue to be managed through PRS.
“The enhanced model will be supported by an expanded MCPS team, improved processes for resolving member and licensee queries, and stronger reporting across its operations,” said a statement.
Paul Clements, CEO of MCPS, said: “The market for mechanical rights continues to evolve quickly, creating significant and exciting opportunities for our members. Our newly enhanced operating model will cost-effectively bring together MCPS’s expanded internal capabilities with the expertise of ICE Services, IMRO and MAIA Universe, while building on our longstanding valued strategic partnership with PRS for Music.”
Dan Gopal, Chief Commercial Officer, PRS For Music, said: “We’re delighted to have agreed a new long-term partnership with Paul, the MCPS management team and MCPS Board. In an ever-evolving music landscape, PRS and MCPS have a shared commitment to ensure our members' music is fairly licensed and their royalties are paid out with greater speed and accuracy. By evolving this historic alliance, we can continue to provide the best possible services to composers, songwriters, publishers, as well as our shared customers and affiliate societies.”
MCPS will confirm the transition date later this year and provide further information ahead of the new model taking effect in early 2027, with additional enhancements to follow during the year.
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