What is Master Recording?
Also called: master, masters, master rights
The master recording is the original, final recording of a song, and the master rights are the copyright in that recording. They are separate from the rights in the song's composition, which belong to the songwriters and publishers.
Every released song carries two copyrights: one in the composition (melody and lyrics) and one in the sound recording. Whoever owns the master, often a label or the artist, controls how that specific recording is used and earns its royalties.
Record deals are largely about masters: who owns them, for how long, and what share of the income the artist receives. Owning your masters means you decide on licensing and keep a larger share.
In this sense, master has nothing to do with mastering, the final audio processing step, although both words come from the idea of a final master copy.
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