What is the Master Recording?

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In the music business, a master recording is the official original recording of a song, sound or performance. Also referred to as “masters”, it is the source from which all the later copies are made.

On this page:

Why own master recordings
Why record labels have leverage

Master recordings can be distinguished as tapes, discs, pro tools session files and digital formats such as MP3s. Owning the master recording is smart business; it is an important aspect of a deal you can’t afford to ignore if you want to make real money in the music business.

That is not to say that without owning the masters, you do not get a healthy income, just not the lion’s share.

Prince: “If you don’t own your masters, the master owns you.”

Why own the master recording?

We know that owning the master recording and the legal rights to freely appropriate is the key to maximizing your money-making opportunities. Now you are free to claim the lion’s share of the revenue generated from your megahit songs.

By owning the master recording, one could unilaterally license third parties to use it for TV, film, commercial adverts, or even as a sample in other songs by other artists.

The issue now is: who owns the master recording? Is it the artist or the producer? Is it the record label or the recording studio?

It is easy to suggest that the artist would own it since he or she wrote the song and performs it, but in reality, those who also work on it may reserve the right to the masters based on the current contract with the respective parties. Such parties include the record label, the music producer, sound engineer, a featured artist, or even a recording studio. Thus at the end of the day, an artist may be forced to either relinquish his masters outright or share it with any of the people he or she chooses to work with.

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How do record labels have leverage?

Forfeiting or sharing the legal rights to the master recording usually happens when an artist gets signed and needs the financial backing, marketing, and promotion of a label for the record and release of their work. Then a deal is usually made that the artist should hand over the masters until an amount spent by the label (an advance) is earned and recovered or that the label should hold the masters outright for a specified number of years.

The implication is that the record label can then use the masters as it pleases without the consent, approval or necessary permission of the artist or producer. All revenues made on the masters go to the label and are shared as agreed upon with the artist.

It has become a popular practice that producers and sound engineers make such deals with up and coming artists to produce and record their songs for a part split of ownership over the masters. For a featured artist, the deal usually is to co-own the masters since they contribute their own intellectual property in the form of lyrics to the song.

Recording studios and production houses sometimes claim the argument that since their music equipment and expertise are used on the work, they deserve some rights to the masters. However, this argument is considered weak as studios can only claim their price or fee per time spent. The artists can themselves decide to share or give up some share of masters to them, however, this is rare.