![]() The legal system in the United States found itself unprepared to handle the rapid growth of the music industry. The 20th century witnessed the advent of many new musical genres: big band, blues, jazz, and singer-songwriter, to name a few. The new accessibility to music caused compositions to become a much larger part of culture. A century and a half later, Western society shied away from the idea that music is a divine art as the masses began to view it as a form of performance art meant to entertain. This concept is called tonality and it remains a key part of compositions today. ![]() In the 16th century, composers began to orient their songs around one tone or key. The invention allowed the mass-production of sheet music, which made compositions more of a commodity. In 1440, the invention of the printing press catapulted the art of composition into a rapid period of growth. In turn, secular music began to outgrow sacred music. ![]() By the 14th century, society began to grow apart from the church. While sacred music continued to gain relevance and expand, travelling musicians performed and popularized secular music. Due to the prominent role of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, Gregorian Chants became the first compositions to be consumed by the masses. During that time, the church began using simple unaccompanied vocal parts called Gregorian Chants (named after Pope Gregory I) as a fundamental part of their practices and services. The first known practice of saving and formally notating musical creations is by the Catholic Church in the 9th and 10th centuries. Codification of music began when songs and anthologies could be recorded on paper and collected. ![]() This, however, was only the beginning of the prehistoric era of music, meaning that there is no written record of these civilizations and their music. A brief history of the Western compositionĪrchaeologists date the existence of music back to between 60,000 and 30,000 BC. However, it is important for the songwriter to have an understanding of how songs and compositions came to be and evolved to become the foundation of the modern music industry. The history of composition is much too abundant to fully recount in detail here. It is important to note that this process is independent from that of the licensing of sound recordings, which are separate copyrights created by artists and are usually owned by record labels. Once these requirements are met, compositions can be licensed to interested buyers through a music publisher. The song must be fixed in a tangible medium (such as notes written on a sheet of paper or a sound recording on tape or in a digital file) and must be an original expression. However, there are criteria that a composition must meet in order to be protected under American copyright law. There is no concrete definition of a composition, only the aforementioned terms we use to characterize it. Though the two terms technically refer to different things, they will be used somewhat interchangeably in this guide because they function in the exact same way in the music business. The term “composition” typically refers to an instrumental musical piece, while the term “song” usually applies to musical works accompanied by lyrics. It is the collection of notes, melodies, phrases, rhythms, lyrics, and/or harmonies that make up the essence of the work. One will also find links to tools and additional resources that can be utilized to further one’s education and get the most from the network.įinally, as questions and ideas arise, please do not hesitate to reach out to Exploration for clarification. Music enthusiasts who want to write music (or just learn about it) but don’t know where to start.Those interested in a career in music publishing or or the music business in general.Music publishers who want to brush up on the nuts and bolts of their business and who are looking for what makes a composition “the best” in order to maximize investments and increase income flow.In this guide, they will also have the opportunity to learn how to maximize the potential of their work(s) in order to target key audiences and increase profitability - all while staying true to their craft. Composers or Songwriters seeking a thorough understanding of their rights as creators.This guide will build a foundation that will aid in one’s understanding of the complex web of music industry licensing structures and business entities covered in the overall guide. The purpose of this guide is to provide a detailed account of what a composition is and to further elucidate the difference between the composition and the sound recording.
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