Master vs publishing rights
Almost every song is really two assets: the recording and the composition. Knowing which you own — and which you are valuing or selling — is essential to understanding what a catalogue is worth.
Master rights (the recording)
The master is the specific recorded version of a song — the actual audio. Whoever owns the master earns recording royalties from streams, downloads and licensing of that recording. Labels and distributors typically deal in masters.
Publishing rights (the composition)
Publishing covers the underlying composition — the melody and lyrics. It generates separate royalties: mechanical, performance and sync, collected via publishers and PROs. The songwriter and publisher share this income.
Why they are valued differently
Because they are distinct assets with distinct income, they trade separately. Publishing catalogues have historically commanded higher multiples of net publisher share than master recordings, partly because publishing income tends to be more durable. A full valuation looks at each stream you actually own.
Value what you own. Upload your statements and Arbiter values your masters and/or publishing.
Value my catalogue →Frequently asked
General information, not investment, legal or tax advice. Valuing music rights involves assumptions and uncertainty; past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.