Why Not go to the Harry Fox Agency Instead of Using Section 115?

Despite all this talk of Section 115, as we mentioned earlier, the Section 115 license is actually seldom used—most record labels simply go to the Harry Fox Agency for a mechanical license when releasing a physical product that requires licensing (for example, a cover album). This being the case, why can't a digital media company also go to Harry Fox and obtain a mechanical license, thereby sidestepping the hassles involved in the Section 115 license? Well, as DiMA would say, the Harry Fox Agency does not represent all music copyright owners and DiMA companies often need to access works that fall outside of Harry Fox's domain. These companies claim that that's not the only problem with The Harry Fox Agency: the Agency refuses to disclose all of the publishers that it represents and publishers are free to withdraw their works from the Harry Fox catalog at any time. According to DiMA president Jonathan Potter, between 40 and 60 percent of all license requests are denied by The Harry Fox Agency because the songs are not in its repertory—or because the Agency isn't sure if it holds the rights to the song.