Musical rights: Ownership and distribution claims
Musical rights are the legal framework allowing artists, labels and distributors to earn revenue from their work, primarily by licensing musical compositions (publishing) and licensing or selling recordings (distribution).
Luminate tracks ownership rights and distribution rights claimed by record labels and distributors. These claims apply to recordings (ISRCs) and products (ICPNs), collectively called musical assets.
Ownership rights
Ownership can refer to copyright on musical works or possession of master recordings. Ownership rights grant creative control and the ability to license the work to be recorded, reproduced and/or distributed by other parties.
Distribution rights
Distribution is the process of making musical products and recordings available for consumption in streaming, digital or physical format. Distribution rights grant the ability to reproduce musical assets, market them for public consumption and earn revenue from sales and streaming.
Claims
Rights holders submit claims specifying which entities have ownership and/or distribution rights, for which ICPNs and ISRCs, in which locations, for how long and in what percentages (for split claims). We track these rights in our database and use ownership claims to calculate market share for the U.S. and Canada.
In CONNECT, musical rights determine visibility for some data and features. If your organization has an active claim on an asset, you’ll be able to see provider breakouts and rights details.
Back to Registration and Reporting
Submit claims
Starting in 2025, we’re introducing a new claims submission process. All rights holders (including new providers) will have the option to claim musical assets with a Musical Rights API.
Read more: Coming Soon: The Luminate Musical Rights API
If you’ve submitted claims to Luminate before, you may continue doing so via existing channels for now. Use the Market Share Request form to submit changes to your claims or resolve conflicts. Note that we aren’t onboarding new claim providers until the new process is live.
See rights on Dashboards
We track rights at the Recording (ISRC) and Product (ICPN) level. Ownership and distribution rights are included in Dashboard metadata for Recordings, Songs, Products, Releases and Release Groups (albums).
ICPN: 0602577298387
Rights holders can view additional details about their claimed assets. Click MORE DETAILS > to see all metadata, then open the RIGHTS tab at the end of the row.
Included rights information
Role
Distributor or Owner
Rights Holder
Name of company or entity (or Under Review, for conflicts)
Catalog Code
Code corresponding to a rights holder in our database. We use these for internal tracking and verification.
Channel
Digital or Physical. Distribution rights can apply to one or both.
Share
Percentage owned by each rights holder
Status
Active, Internal Conflict or Conflict
Effective Date
Date the claim first took effect
Split claims
Ownership can be shared among multiple rights holders. We display split claims as percentages.
Conflicting claims
Sometimes, multiple parties claim ownership or distribution rights without specifying shares or splits. When this happens, we flag conflicts in the Status column until the rights holders send us corrected data. In the meantime, the Dashboard summary for the asset will label the rights Under Review.
Internal conflicts are between two subsidiaries of the same parent company. When this happens, we list the parent company’s claim as Active and conflicting claims as Internal Conflict.
External conflicts are between two different labels or groups. For external conflicts, we list the active rights holder as Under Review and the conflicting claims as Conflict.
How do I resolve conflicting claims?
We rely on rights holders to provide correct and up-to-date claims information. If you notice a conflict or rights error on one of your assets, submit a Market Share Request with details and (ideally) documentation for the correct claim. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
More to know
Dashboards: Visualize key data and performance
Client Support: Find answers and get the help you need
About CONNECT: Platform overview and updates
Migrating from Music Connect: Overview for legacy users
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