When any portion of any copyrighted music is included in a production (whether a television program, motion picture, home video or interactive media), there are potentially two (2) separate copyrights involved that need to be licensed: (1) the musical composition, owned by the music publisher; and (2) the specific recording of that composition, owned by the artist's record company. Licensing of these two copyrights is generally called synchronization (sync) rights and master recording rights, respectively.

Music Publisher:  The entity (or entities) that own or control the copyright to a song or musical work and represents its business interests (the music & lyrics).  Publishers often represent songwriters and hold exclusive rights to their works. Publishing companies can be individually owned or by a larger entity, such as Universal Music Publishing.   There can be several Music Publishers owning rights to compositions if more than one writer contributed to that particular composition.

Record Company refers to a party who owns or controls a sound recording. This is often a well-known label like Sony Music, but could really be anyone who holds rights to an important recording

Sound Recording (a/k/a record, CD : The (P) in copyright, this is a performance of a song or musical work on fixed, reproducible media. Remember, the owner of a sound recording does not grant any rights to the underlying music Record companies usually own sound recordings, and using requires licensing master rights. 

 Master Owner:  The entity (usually a record company) who owns the sound recording in a song (referred to as the owner of the “Master Side”).

Master Rights: The permission needed to use sound recordings in other media - in films or other visual media. Usually held by a record company; Master rights are worthless unless you also have synchronization rights to the underlying song.  In the US, the words and music of a song are protected an indivisible whole, unless each was written and registered for copyright separately prior to creation of the song.

Performing Rights Societies:  (BMI, ASCAP & SESAC):  are public performance rights organizations who collect royalties for music uses in broadcasting (i.e. TV and Radio) and public places (from restaurants and bars to airlines, even stadiums and universities!), as well as represent the public interests of composers, lyricists and music publishers. Collectively, they represent virtually the entire universe of published songs.  This is also where anyone can find out who the publisher(s) and the writer(s) are for most any song ever published.  A great resource.

Mechanical Rights: The permission to make a audio-only, sound recording of song or musical work. Mechanical rights applies to audio media only, and excludes film, TV or multimedia. A Compulsory Mechanical License allows you to make a sound recording without having to contact the copyright owner, provided you do not change the words or fundamental character of the music, and you pay the statutory mechanical rate. To learn more about obtaining mechanical licenses, contact EMG or The Harry Fox Agency.