How are cover songs licensed and what royalties are involved?

How are cover songs licensed and what royalties are involved?

• A. Cover songs rely on compulsory licensing for the composition; publishers receive publishing royalties; performers collect performance royalties via PROs.
• B. Cover songs require no licensing and pay no royalties.
• C. Cover songs generate only master recording royalties.
• D. Cover songs are licensed at the publisher's discretion with no standard mechanism.

Answer: (A)

When you cover a song, the key thing you’re licensing is the underlying musical composition, not the sound recording. For standard non-dramatic songs, there’s a compulsory (statutory) license for the composition. This means you can legally cover the song by paying a set mechanical rate to the copyright owner (typically the songwriter via the publisher). The publishers receive publishing royalties for that composition rights stream. Public performance royalties come from the song being performed in public or broadcast, and those royalties are collected by performing rights organizations (PROs) on behalf of the songwriters and publishers. So, the rights holder for the composition—the songwriter/publisher—receives those performance royalties through PROs. In addition, there’s a separate consideration for the actual recording you release: the master recording royalties go to the owner of that recording (often the label or artist/producer who created the cover). The standard mechanism described above—compulsory licensing for the composition and PRO-reported performance royalties—fits the typical cover-song licensing framework. That’s why the best choice emphasizes compulsory licensing for the composition, publishing royalties to the publisher, and performance royalties via PROs.

When you cover a song, the key thing you’re licensing is the underlying musical composition, not the sound recording. For standard non-dramatic songs, there’s a compulsory (statutory) license for the composition. This means you can legally cover the song by paying a set mechanical rate to the copyright owner (typically the songwriter via the publisher). The publishers receive publishing royalties for that composition rights stream.

Public performance royalties come from the song being performed in public or broadcast, and those royalties are collected by performing rights organizations (PROs) on behalf of the songwriters and publishers. So, the rights holder for the composition—the songwriter/publisher—receives those performance royalties through PROs.

In addition, there’s a separate consideration for the actual recording you release: the master recording royalties go to the owner of that recording (often the label or artist/producer who created the cover). The standard mechanism described above—compulsory licensing for the composition and PRO-reported performance royalties—fits the typical cover-song licensing framework.

That’s why the best choice emphasizes compulsory licensing for the composition, publishing royalties to the publisher, and performance royalties via PROs.