What Is the Difference Between a Master and a Composition?

Every piece of recorded music contains two distinct copyrights that exist independently of each other and generate separate royalties.

THE MASTER RECORDING (also called the 'sound recording copyright') covers the actual recorded audio — the specific performance captured in the studio or otherwise. Whoever financed and owns the recording session owns the master. This is typically the artist, a label, or whoever paid for the recording. Master rights generate streaming royalties (the largest share of streaming income), sync master use fees, and SoundExchange royalties for digital radio.

THE COMPOSITION (also called the 'musical work copyright' or 'publishing') covers the underlying song — the melody, lyrics, and chord structure. The composition is owned by the songwriter(s) and their publisher. Composition rights generate performance royalties (collected by PROs), mechanical royalties (collected by The MLC for streaming), and sync synchronization fees.

When you are both the artist and the songwriter, you own both copyrights. This means you are owed royalties from both streams — master royalties through your distributor (SoSouth) and composition royalties through your PRO and publishing administrator.

When a label signs an artist, they often acquire ownership or control of the master. Publishing deals involve the composition. These are negotiated separately, which is why 'owning your masters' and 'owning your publishing' are two distinct goals for independent artists.