What if I’m interested in a particular piece of music by a particular artist?
In this case there are actually two sets of rights you need to be aware of. The first is the copyright in the recording, (sometimes called the Master Rights), which is usually controlled by the performing artist or their record company. The second is the copyright in the underlying composition, (this is called the synchronisation right), which is controlled by the writer or their publisher. It doesn’t matter if the people who recorded the song also wrote it; you still have to clear the two sets of rights separately.
