Music Copyrights
Songwriters
Recording Artists
50%
50%
COPYRIGHTS
MASTER RIGHTS
25% Songwriters - For writing the lyrics and music
25% Publisher/Administrator
25% Recording Artists - Producing the lyrics and music together into a master recording
25% Record Label
All musicians should know that every Recorded Track is broken down into two main copyrights represented by their publisher and label.
Songwriter - Copyrights
Spotify's Publishing
When you create a song, you automatically becoming both the Songwriter (owning the rights), and the Publisher (Controlling or licensing the rights). By default you own and control at least 6 different copyrights to your song. These rights allow you to license your song to businesses or paid sources for a specific use and collect license fees wherever your song is used. Controlling the rights also allows you to register ownership or administer your song rights with music societies/rights organizations collecting royalties generated wherever your song is streamed, performed, played, or otherwise used.
To collect music royalties as a Songwriter you must affiliate with your local Performing Rights Organization before you are able to claim these royalties. However this ONLY accounts for royalties generated within your region or country and not for royalties generated in countries outside of your PROs controlled territory. This is where Songwriter needs a publisher or and administrator to have these royalties also collected.
Blanket Licenses: A license that blankets all songwriters or artists within a specific region or territory that Right Society controls eg. BMI and ASCAP for the United States.
Music Rights Societies issue automatic "Blanket Licenses" to online platforms where mandatory royalties are then paid. These royalties get paid to rights societies from all over the world, generated from the date your music was first used online, meaning you could also potentially be missing royalties unclaimed back dating years.
Music Rights Societies
(PRO) - Performing Rights Organizations
(MRO) - Mechanical Rights Organizations
(CMO) - Collective Management Organization
(NRO) - Neighboring Rights Organizations
(SRO) - Sound Recording Organizations
Types of Music Rights Societies
The bulk of digital royalties generated online are allocated to your distributor and to the relevant rights societies in the country where your music is streamed or used. This is why it is essential to affiliate as a songwriter with your local PRO.
As a Songwriter you ONLY collect half of your Songs Performing Royalties. It is Industry Standards, that the rest of your Songs royalties, for the publishing rights are to be collected by a Publisher entity.
Performing Rights Organizations split royalties payments between the Songwriter and Publisher
Administrator - Publishing Rights
The role of a publisher is to manage music copyrights and register your works with your local PRO. They administer ownership claims on your music and correct and inaccurate or missing metadata. Publishers also track and monitor the usage of your music collecting royalties generated from those uses and issue music licenses to businesses and other paid sources across various mediums. To collect royalties outside your local society’s territory, you typically need a sub-publisher in each country where your music is exploited, as they administer your rights within their respective territories. If your music is not properly registered in the country where it is being used, this can result in your royalties not being paid.
For a Songwriters Copyrights, 6 types of rights are commonly generated from a single written Song.
Want to protect your music assets and track missing or unclaimed royalties?
An administrator has the same role as a standard publisher, providing the same duties as a service only deducting commission off of all royalties collected on your behalf, instead of negotiating ownership terms to your copyrights. In co-publishing deals, 50% of your song’s copyright is assigned to the publisher and in most cases, often in perpetuity.
Our mission is to ensure music creators are fully compensated properly for their craft, providing an administerial service rather than negotiating copyrights or taking ownership of musical assets. Our platform enables Songwriters to fully own 100% of your songs..
For a Recording Artists owning the Masters could depend on several things, like if you are the Executive Producer, studio time is financed by your Label or if the Producer is conducting the entire recording session.
Recording Artists own the Masters for the Sound Recording. The word "Masters" derives from the term Master Recording, the final audio product. It is the final produced audio file or is the original recording to what is known in the industry as "Owning Your Masters" or to be an owner of the Master Copyright to a Sound Recording.
Recording Artists - Master Rights
