Answers/Glossary/Two copyrights
Glossary · Copyright
Two copyrights
Every released song contains two separate copyrights: the musical composition, owned by the songwriters and publishers, and the sound recording, owned by whoever made or paid for the master. They earn different royalties from different organisations.
This is the single most load-bearing idea in music money, and almost every "where is my money" question dissolves once it lands. A song on Spotify is two pieces of intellectual property sitting on top of each other. The composition is the written song. The sound recording is the particular master of it. Each has its own owner, its own identifier, its own registrations and its own income.
| Musical composition | Sound recording | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Melody, harmony, lyrics | The specific recorded master |
| Owned by | Songwriters and publishers | Whoever made or paid for the recording |
| Identifier | ISWC | ISRC |
| Performance income | ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR | SoundExchange, digital non-interactive only |
| Reproduction income | The MLC, US digital mechanicals | Your distributor, from Spotify and Apple Music |
| Licensing for film | Sync licence | Master use licence |
One Spotify stream triggers payments on both sides. The recording side reaches you through DistroKid, TuneCore or CD Baby. The composition side reaches you through The MLC and through your PRO — and only if you registered.
The practical consequence: distributing music is a recording-side activity. Nothing your distributor does registers the composition. This is why an artist can have hundreds of thousands of streams and a healthy distributor dashboard while their entire publishing income is sitting unmatched.
The misunderstanding: thinking the two copyrights always have the same owner because you did everything yourself. Even then they are two things — and the moment a co-writer, producer or featured artist is involved, they can and often do diverge.
If you take one thing from this glossary, take this one. Artist's advice, not legal advice.
Related terms
- Musical compositionA musical composition is the song itself — the melody, harmony, structure and lyrics — protected as its own copyright separate…
- Sound recordingA sound recording is the fixed capture of a performance — the master — protected as its own copyright separate from the…
- PublishingPublishing is the business of owning and exploiting musical compositions — the songs themselves, not the recordings.
- Sound recording royaltyA sound recording royalty is income earned by the specific recorded master of a song, as opposed to the underlying composition.
Definitions on this site describe the United States system. I am an artist who has been through this, not a lawyer.
Get the paperwork done in one afternoon
The Zero to Beat Society walks through registration, splits and release paperwork step by step — with the templates and checklists already filled in.
See the tiers