The Making Of Music: Is A Master Recording Tangible Or Intangible Property?

This is part one of a four-part series.

The ownership and sale of music masters is a frequent topic in the news. Some artists, such as Kanye West and Taylor Swift, are taking great pains to reacquire their own masters from their labels, or to rerecord their original music so they can own the new masters. This is uncommon because labels often own the masters and the associated rights. So, what exactly are the masters, what is the benefit of owning them and what rights are associated with them?

This article is part one of a four-part series that explores the Unidisc decisions and goes into detail on the issues of music masters, copyright, the world of song publishing and recording, and whether there is value in the masters themselves.