The Difference Between a Composition and a Master

It’s essential to understand the difference between a composition, or song, and a master.

A composition is a musical work with or without lyrics that a songwriter or composer has written. Think of a composition as the notes that make up a song. A songwriter owns a composition at the moment of conception which means that the moment that you perform or write down the song you own the composition, but it’s always best to register the copyright with the government to protect yourself in the event of copyright infringement.

As the author of a composition, the songwriter or composer is entitled to performance publishing and mechanical publishing royalties whenever your song is used. Performance publishing is revenue generated whenever the song is performed or played and mechanical royalties are paid whenever a song is “affixed” to a playback device such as a CD, record, MP3 or a digital stream.

A master is the recorded performance of a composition and is often called a sound recording. The producer, performing artist and, sometimes, the sound engineer receive “points” or a percentage of the revenue generated from the use of the master.

For example, Bob Dylan wrote the composition (meaning he wrote the lyrics and melody), to “Blowin’ in the Wind”. Motown Records recording artist Stevie Wonder recorded a version of Bob Dylan’s composition. In this case, Motwon owns the sound recording of the song while Bob Dylan and his publisher own the composition.