Module 8 — Metadata, rights & the paper trail

Every recording carries the composition (writers/publishers — performance royalties via PROs like BMI/ASCAP) and the master (the recording itself — owned by artist or label). A PRO blanket covers performing the composition; it does NOT grant master use, and it does not cover repertoire your license excludes.

ISRC identifies a specific recording; writers/publishers fields identify who gets composition money. Clean now-playing metadata is what makes airplay logs usable for royalty reporting — garbage tags mean somebody doesn't get paid, and that somebody eventually calls.

Rights are territorial. A Japan-market physical agreement does not equal worldwide broadcast rights. Direct artist permission (signed, on file) is the cleanest basis there is — which is why every non-portal band gets an invited account and a contract on file before their catalog is treated as cleared.

Undisclosed pay-for-play is illegal on licensed broadcast and toxic everywhere. Rule: disclose and log, or refuse. There is no quiet version.

The Media Library carries rights_basis, territories, ISRC and master_owner per track; artist agreements live on file and stamp the catalog when countersigned. The network's country fence will not pass a fenced-territory track without a signed agreement — the software enforces what this module teaches.