MASTER RECORDING
ALSO CALLED: MASTER · SOUND RECORDING
DEFINITION
A master recording is the original fixed recording of a performance, the specific captured audio from which all copies are made. It is a distinct copyright from the underlying composition, and ownership of one does not imply ownership of the other.
WHAT IT MEANS IN PRACTICE
A song can have one composition and dozens of masters: the original studio recording, a live version, a remix, each is a separate master with its own rights, even though they may all embody the same underlying composition owned by the same songwriter.
Record labels typically own the master because they fund the recording session, while the songwriter or their publisher owns the composition, which is why artists who write their own songs but signed away their masters can end up with no ownership stake in their own recordings at all.
This split is identical in structure under both US and EU copyright law, though EU law separately recognises 'neighbouring rights' for performers and producers of the master, a concept the US handles differently through its own performance royalty rules for sound recordings.
Selling or streaming a track requires rights to the master specifically; owning the composition alone lets you license covers and adaptations, but not distribute the original recorded performance.
AN EXAMPLE
Reggie writes and records a song for a major label in 2005, signing away his masters as part of the deal, though he keeps his composition rights through his publisher. In 2024 the label licenses his original master for a car commercial and Reggie receives no fee from that license, only from the separate sync fee paid to his publisher for the composition.
WATCH OUT
Artists sometimes assume that owning their own songs, meaning the writing, also means owning their recordings, when these are commonly split between different parties entirely.
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