Many songwriters and artists don't know that when you record a song, there are actually, two distinct copyrights - the composition or song known as the PA and the sound recording or the SR. Making it in Music's Hugh Hession presents the differences between the two.

4. The composition or song copyright registration is also
known as a PA (for Performing Arts).
U.S. Copyright Law acknowledges a copyright once you create something original and
then capture it in some type of fixed, tangible format such as your computer, pen and
paper, a recording on a mobile app, whatever. It also should have the ability to be
reproduced. By registering the work with The US Copyright Office, you create
evidence that the song is yours!

5. The composition or what is typically known as the “song” copyright is usually owned by the
author who can be an individual writer, a solo artist or a band.
The song copyright comprises a fifty-fifty split in income between the songwriter and the
publisher. If you write the song and have no formal agreement with a publishing company,
then you as the songwriter own both the writer share and the publishing share of your song(s).
You can receive royalties by licensing your songs to others for audio-visual purposes
(film, videos, television), public performance (broadcast media, streaming, radio, public
establishments), samples, recording (other music artists/bands).
As the song copyright holder, you decide who has first dibs on a new song (known as
“First Use Rights”). However, once a song is commercially released to the public, anyone
has the right to record it, provided they obtain a mechanical license. The rate (which is
known as the “statutory rate”) is regulated by law.
The PRO’s that represent songwriters in the U.S. are
BMI, ASCAP and SESAC. They DO NOT deal with
sound recordings but rather the performance of a
song.

6. The SOUND copyright registration is also known as THE
SR (for SOUND RECORDING).
The sound recording copyright is the actual recording itself. The SR copyright is
separate from the PA. It can be an entire album or just one song, but it is important to
understand that the SR owner only has rights to the “recording” of the song, and not
the song itself. Record companies typically own the SR copyright which gives them the
right to license the recordings.

7. If the user licensing a song wants the specific sound recording of that song, then a separate
license must be issued by the sound recording owner. This is in addition to any song/composition
license.
If all writers (authors) are the same on a given album, you can safely file your copyright as an SR
and not worry about filing FORM PA. This will fully protect your songs and you will be the sole
owner(s) of both copyrights. However if there are different authors on a recorded album you
should file both the appropriate PA and SR copyright forms to distinguish ownership.
An SR copyright owner typically issues a “Master Use License” for those interested in
using the actual recording of a song. The fee is negotiable.
The PRO that caters specifically to sound recordings, is SoundExchange. ASCAP, BMI and
SESAC only pay out based on the performance of a song and not the actual recording of it.
If another party other than the artist owns the SR (such as a record label, manager or producer),
then the artist has no control over it. An example would be a major label artist recording an
album. The artist would own the songs on the album, but not the album (the recording) itself.

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