The difference between a song and a recording

Ask an artist what they own and they will often say "my song." That answer hides a detail that matters later. Every release involves two separate works: the song and the recording of the song. They are connected, but the law treats them as different things, and different people can be involved in each.

This article explains the difference using the way the U.S. Copyright Office describes it, then looks at why it affects the choices an artist makes.

Two works, one track

The Copyright Office puts it directly. The underlying song is a "musical work," and a performance captured on tape or in a file is a "sound recording." Its example is a song and a specific recording of that song, which it calls "two distinct works."

Think of a song that has been recorded by several different artists. The song is the same each time. Each recording is a different work, because each is a different captured performance. Once you see it that way, it becomes clear why one release can involve more than one set of rights.

What the song is

The musical work is the music and lyrics. It exists whether or not anyone ever records it. A person can write a song, perform it live, and never capture it at all.

Registering a song is a separate process from registering a recording, and this article does not cover it. The Copyright Office has its own guidance for songs.

What the recording is

The sound recording is the result of fixing sounds. The Office defines sound recordings as "works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds," and says the copyright "covers the recording itself," not the song embodied in it.

So a recording can exist without being tied to one song in the traditional sense. It can capture spoken words or other sounds. In music, though, most recordings capture a song, which is why the two are so often mixed up.

The authors are different

This is where the split has real consequences. The author of a song is the person who wrote it. The author of a sound recording, according to the Copyright Office, is the performer featured in the recording and the producer who captured and processed the sounds.

Say you write a song, and a producer helps record and mix it. You are the author of the song. The producer, together with the featured performer, may be an author of the recording. If you hired a singer to perform your song, the featured performer is part of the recording's authorship, and you remain the author of the song.

The Office also notes that a recording made by an employee in a typical employment relationship belongs to the employer as a work made for hire. A third party who commissions a recording can also be the author if the parties agree in writing that it is a work made for hire. Because ownership can turn on a written agreement, it pays to settle the terms before the session.

When you record a song written by another person

A recording of a song someone else wrote has two different authors from the start. You and your producer may be authors of the recording. The songwriter remains the author of the song. Those are separate relationships, and getting permission to use a song is a separate matter from owning your recording of it.

The Music Modernization Act reflects the same split. Title I deals with licensing songs to digital music providers, with a blanket license that covers digital downloads and interactive streams. Title III deals with royalties for producers, mixers and sound engineers who worked on recordings. One law, two different groups of people, because there are two different kinds of work.

This article is not legal advice. If you plan to record a song written by another person, a music attorney can explain what you need before you release it.

Registering each one

Registration follows the split. The Copyright Office says that when you register a sound recording, you choose "Sound Recording" as the type of work at the start. Choosing the wrong type means starting over.

The Office also explains that a recording can be registered together with the song embodied in it in some cases, and it points to its Circular 56A for that. If the same person or group owns both the song and the recording, that can save steps. If different people own them, each owner is dealing with a different work.

A short way to keep them straight

Here is a simple test. If you are talking about the notes and the words, you mean the song. If you are talking about the particular version you can press play on, you mean the recording. When a contract, a split sheet or a licensing form uses either word, read it with that test in mind.

Before you release, write down the answers to a few questions. Who wrote the song? Who performed on the recording? Who produced and mixed it? Who owns the final files? Having those answers in one place makes every later step easier.

Packaging the release

Once the audio is settled, the rest of the release is about how people find it and see it. Artists often work on the video, photos and artwork in the same weeks as the final mix.

This article is general information about how music rights work and is not legal advice.