Anyone who was involved in the creation of any original piece of music has rights over that music and earns royalties. There are many types of Music Creators and they have different rights.

Composer:

Someone who writes or composes original songs or music. Composers and songwriters earn royalties from Performing Rights and Mechnical Rights whenever their music is used.

Lyricist / Author:

The person or persons who write the lyrics to accompany original musical works. They earn royalties through Performing Rights and Mechanical Rights on each piece.

Music Publisher:

These are the people who work with musicians to get their music out to a wider audience – they share Performance Rights and Mechanical Rights over those works with the composer/author/lyricist

Recording Artist:

Musicians, backing vocalists and others involved in the recording of the music in studio are protected by Needletime Rights and receive royalties when the songs are used.

Performance Rights:

These are royalties paid to composers, authors and publishers whenever their music is performed in public.

Mechanical Rights:

These are royalties paid to composers, authors and publishers whenever their music is copied on any kind of recording device – such as when CDs/DVDs are printed, or when MP3s are sold online.

Needle time Rights:

These are royalties paid to Recording Artists when a song is used. These are people who help in the recording of music - such as session musicians and backing vocalists.