How does music ownership work? Who owns what when it comes to wrtiting, recordings, publishing, royalties, etc? The Taylor Swift case makes me bring this up.
In: Other
If you make something, you own it.
If someone pays you to make something, you still own it.
If someone enters a contract with you to make something, the contract specifies who owns what when.
—
In the case of popstar singers, it’s complex because different people get in at different times and enter contracts for different pieces of the pie.
If a singer is in a contract to make music for a studio, the studio probably owns it. If they pay someone to distribute it, the studio still owns it, but the distributor then would be taking a fraction of the sale.
Etc. It all depends on the contract.
Latest Answers