Music Royalty Collection Society Nepal (MRCSN)

Music Royalty Collection Society Nepal (MRCSN) is Nepal's authorized collective management organization for performing and mechanical rights, established in 2007 under the Copyright Act 2059. Based in Kathmandu, it licenses music to broadcasters, venues, hotels, and digital platforms across Nepal and distributes royalties to its members quarterly. It operates under CISAC and WIPO Connect standards and maintains reciprocal agreements with 127 sister societies worldwide. It is best suited for Nepali composers, lyricists, and publishers whose music is performed or broadcast within Nepal.

How MRCSN Works

MRCSN operates under four mandates defined by Nepal's Copyright Act 2059 and its 2007 instrument of incorporation: licensing, royalty distribution, rights documentation, and member welfare.

Licensing: MRCSN issues blanket and per-use licenses for FM radio, television, hotels, restaurants, retail stores, live venues, and digital services across Nepal. License categories include broadcast (radio and television), public performance (venues and retail), background music (hotels and airlines), and digital (streaming and user-generated content platforms).

Royalty Distribution: MRCSN distributes royalties quarterly, directly to members' bank accounts with statements. Distributions are backed by cue-sheet matching, fingerprint data, and reciprocal agreements with 127 sister societies worldwide. Royalty types collected include performance royalties, mechanical and streaming royalties, synchronization royalties, and foreign income via CISAC.

Rights Documentation: Members register works to international standards. Each accepted work is assigned an ISWC via WIPO Connect and pushed to the global CIS-Net repertoire. MRCSN also manages IPI base and name numbers, split-sheet management, and dispute resolution workflows.

Member Welfare: Beyond royalties, MRCSN provides legal aid for infringement cases, hardship and funeral grants, health micro-insurance, and continuing education through workshops and masterclasses.

Real-World Example

A Nepali songwriter registers 15 compositions with MRCSN. Each work is assigned an ISWC through WIPO Connect and published to the CIS-Net global repertoire. A Kathmandu FM station plays 6 of those songs in a given quarter under an MRCSN blanket license. Two hotels in Pokhara hold MRCSN background music licenses, and a domestic streaming platform reports usage of 10 songs.

MRCSN collects license fees from all three sources. The FM station's cue sheets are matched against the songwriter's registered works. The hotel fees are allocated based on reported usage. The streaming platform's usage reports are processed and matched to the catalog.

The songwriter receives a quarterly royalty payment directly to their bank account, proportional to the logged performances, minus MRCSN's administrative costs. If the same songs are played on radio in India, MRCSN's reciprocal agreement with IPRS means IPRS collects those royalties and remits them to MRCSN for distribution.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

If you are a Nepali songwriter, composer, lyricist, or publisher, MRCSN is the authorized organization in Nepal that collects performance and mechanical royalties on your behalf. Without MRCSN membership, you earn nothing from public performances of your music in Nepal, regardless of how often it gets played on radio, in venues, or on streaming platforms.

Register your works with MRCSN before they are publicly released. Each registered work receives an ISWC through WIPO Connect and is pushed to the global CIS-Net repertoire, which means your works become discoverable by PROs worldwide. Include accurate split information, ISRC codes, and correct metadata to ensure royalties are matched to your account.

MRCSN's quarterly distribution schedule means you receive payments four times a year, directly to your bank account. The society also offers member welfare benefits including legal aid for infringement cases, hardship grants, and health micro-insurance, which go beyond what most PROs provide.

If you are an international artist whose music is performed in Nepal, your home PRO should have a reciprocal agreement with MRCSN. Ensure your works are registered with your home society so they can claim royalties from MRCSN on your behalf.

Potential Drawbacks

MRCSN was established in 2007 and is a relatively young CMO compared to organizations like ASCAP (1914) or PRS for Music (1914). Its monitoring systems, digital infrastructure, and licensing coverage may not yet match the sophistication of longer-established PROs. Some performance data may rely on sampling rather than census-based tracking.

The Nepali music market is smaller than Western markets, which means total royalty pools are lower. A songwriter with the same number of radio plays in Nepal will earn less than one with equivalent airplay in the United States or United Kingdom due to differences in license fee revenue and market size.

MRCSN's online portal and self-service tools are still developing. Members may need to rely on direct communication with MRCSN staff for certain operations rather than fully digital workflows.

Related Resources

• Performing Rights Organizations (PRO) - What a PRO is and how it functions
• Performance Royalties - How performance royalties are generated and collected
• Collective Management Organization (CMO) - How CMOs operate globally
• Blanket License - The licensing model used by MRCSN and other PROs
• MRCSN Official Website - Visit MRCSN for membership and licensing information
• Use our Streaming Royalty Calculator to estimate your digital performance earnings