Term
Term · Rights
Master
The sound recording copyright. Not the song.
The master is the recording — the file, the tape, the thing you stream. The composition (publishing) is the underlying song. Different copyrights, different money, different contracts. Owning your masters means you control licenses for the recording (sync of the master, distribution, samples of the record). A label deal often means they own or exclusively license the master for a term or in perpetuity. Perpetuity is a very long time.
Ask Apparition about Master
Musical context, the business around it, and what to do next.