eonmusic: music for life.
  • Home
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Video
  • Reviews
  • Features

Owning Your Own Music: Why?

17/9/2021

0 Comments

 
Quite often musicians can be placed under the impression that they don’t own their master recordings. Here’s why you should own the rights to your work.
The value of owning your own music
In the past decade, the means of production for music have been cheapened by technology. While it is now easier than ever for aspiring artists to make their own music, it is also easier than ever to steal someone else's work and claim it as your own. Intellectual property laws are largely ineffective because people often don't know that they're stealing from an artist until after a song has already become a hit. Developing your own music is the best way to set yourself apart from other DJs and artists.  It’s also of immense importance that as the recording artists, you get to own  your master recordings. 
 
Why owning your masters is important
Master recordings are the original versions of songs that are recorded in a studio. They are recorded by professional musicians and sound engineers with high-quality equipment. Many people believe that master recordings do not need to be protected, but this is false. Master recordings can actually help you protect your music rights and ensure that you receive credit for your creations. All too often, musicians are under the impression that they don't own their master recordings. They think that by signing with a major label or indie label, they have "sold" or "leased" their rights to the music. However, this is not true. The record labels typically only own the sound recording (the actual recording itself), but do not own any of your compositions like lyrics and melodies.
 
Negotiating your rights
Quite often as an artist, one’s concerns lie with making the music you love and hopefully making a living from your efforts. However, if you’re going to enter into an agreement with a label, it’s important that you have an understanding of the legalities of the documents you’re about to sign. Alternatively, if you can afford legal representation or even take along someone who has an understanding of owning shares in music distribution companies or matters of such a nature, then by all means do. 
 
The devil’s in the details
If the label is prepared to fork out a massive advance plus a 5 year term during which a specific number of albums or tracks will be produced, then it’s imperative to find out what transpires at the end of those 5 years. For instance, will the rights revert to you or will they remain with the label? The biggest advantage of master recording ownership is a lifetime of copyright value; something which always trumps any upfront payment or advances.  Plus, if you opt for ownership of your masters, you also have the rights to sell them down the line for a major payday, and the type of money you can make from such a sale is likely to upstage all those juicy contractual incentives such as tour support, marketing, and promoting.  If you’re examining a contract, here some red flags to be aware of:

  • A prolonged rights period (in other words, the period for which the record company will own the recordings)
  • Options over future recordings (in other words, a record company could automatically be entitled to the rights of any future recordings you might make for paying you cash in advance)
  • An “exclusive recording agreement” (in other words, each recording that you create within the duration of the agreement will be owned by the record company)
 
Keep a keen eye out for these red flags, have legal representation, or at least make inquires about your rights as an artist before entering into an agreement which could see you giving up your masters, and that’s what you don’t want.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Wrapping Up Iron Maiden's Latest Tour, We Catch Up With Steve Harris For An EXCLUSIVE Chat.
    Picture
    Trevor Horn Singles Out Yes’ ‘90125’ As The Best Album He’s Ever Worked On.
    Picture
    Ronnie Montrose Remembered: We Chat to Keith St. John.
    Picture
    Billy Sheehan Talks Mr.Big, The Winery Dogs & David Lee Roth.
    Picture
    Courtney Cox Talks 'Being' Adrian Smith & Life In The Iron Maidens.
    Picture
    Hank Marvin Looks Back On His Incredible Career.
    Picture
    EXCLUSIVE: Anthony Phillips on Genesis' Early Days.
    Picture
    Andy Summers Says Every Breath You Take “Was Crap Until I Played On It”.

    Archives

    June 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

© 2016 - 2025 eonmusic.co.uk

Contact: [email protected]
ABOUT
  • Home
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Video
  • Reviews
  • Features