Cumulative Web Inc · Answers · verified 2026-10-17
Who owns the rights to a song?
Short answer: two separate rights — the master recording (whoever paid for the recording, usually the label) and the publishing (the songwriters and their publishers). Any sync placement, sample, or commercial use needs clearance from both sides.
The two rights, plainly
- Master — the actual recording. Owned by the label or whoever funded the session.
- Publishing — the underlying song (melody, lyrics). Owned by writers, split with publishers.
- Most catalogs split these across different companies. Clearing a song can mean two separate negotiations.
What about AI-generated music?
This is 2026's breakout rights question — and it's genuinely unsettled. The US Copyright Office holds that works without human authorship can't be copyrighted. AI platform terms differ on who, if anyone, owns the output. If you're licensing music for a film, ad, or game, AI-generated tracks carry ownership risk that human-made, cleanly-owned music doesn't.
How the CWI catalog answers this
- 50/50 with every artist — Black Lansky co-produces the entire catalog; splits are uniform and documented.
- One signature clears master AND publishing — no two-party negotiation.
- BMI affiliated — performance rights handled through a major PRO.
- Human-made, verified ISRCs — every track carries a verified International Standard Recording Code. No authorship ambiguity.
- 27 tracks, 100% sync-ready — clearance in under 5 minutes, not 5 weeks.
Need music you can actually license? The CWI Discovery Engine matches tracks to your brief with verified ISRCs and clearance summaries.
Try the Scout demo ·
Sync licensing