When it comes to music copyrights, there are two different types of intellectual property: the sound recording (often referred to simply as "the master") and the composition. The differences are important because the rights apply to different people and lead to different sources of income.

A master sound recording copyright protects the original recording of a specific performance of a song by a certain group of musicians, as captured by a specific engineer. Ownership of the master is important because the owner of the master receives the lion’s share of profits from its sale or use. This includes record sales, digital downloads, and television and film licensing.

The concept of a master copyright is different from the underlying copyright in the composition (sometimes called the performing arts copyright), which is owned by the songwriter(s). The composition copyright is owned by the author of the music and lyrics. For example, the Counting Crows (or more likely, their record label) own the sound recording copyright to the 2003 Counting Crows version of Joni Mitchell’s song, Big Yellow Taxi. Joni Mitchell’s record label, based on her recording contract with the label, owns the sound recording copyright to the version that Mitchell herself recorded. Nevertheless, Mitchell, as the songwriter, owns the copyright in the underlying song – no matter who records it.