Who is a performer
Who is a performer?
A performer is the one who breathes life into a work. It is the person whose voice or guitar you hear coming out of the speaker, or whom you see on stage. But note – a performance does not have to be live. Every recorded artistic performance has its own rights.
What does the law say?
A performer is the natural person who created the artistic performance. So once again – always a specific human being, not a company or a group as a whole.
Who IS and who is NOT a performer?
A performer IS
- A singer
- A player of a physical instrument (guitarist, drummer, pianist …)
- A player of a virtual instrument in a DAW – if they program the notes, dynamics, pitch, vibrato and timing themselves and the resulting sound is the outcome of their interpretive decisions
- A featured rapper or singer (feat.)
- A member of an orchestra or ensemble
- A conductor or choirmaster
A performer is NOT
- A sound engineer who only records and mixes (unless they also play)
- A producer who only directs the recording or paid for the production
- An author who does not sing or play their song themselves
- A company, a band as a whole or a production company
- Artificial intelligence – a generated voice or AI performance
What about a “producer” who composes in a DAW?
This is a question that is not always black and white in practice. If someone just triggers a ready-made loop in a DAW or uses a pre-made sample without any interpretive input of their own, they are probably not a performer.
But if they program every note themselves and fine-tune the dynamics, timing, pitch, vibrato and articulation of a virtual instrument – in other words, they do what a player of a physical instrument would otherwise do – then their performance has the characteristics of an artistic performance. These are interpretive decisions that are captured on the recording.
In practice, this boundary is assessed case by case and depends on the degree of creative and interpretive input. If you are not sure, consult the relevant collecting society (Intergram), a lawyer, your colleagues or us.
AI as a performer? No.
Just as AI cannot be the author of a work, it cannot be a performer either. A performer must be a natural person – and AI has no personal rights. A generated voice or AI performance therefore does not enjoy the legal protection given to performers.
More on the reality of AI rights: Who owns the rights to AI music
How does it work in the Bez Labelu system?
When adding a recording, you work with several different roles for performers and other people. Each has a different purpose and is displayed differently on the platforms:
Primary Artist
The primary artist – the name of your project or band. This is the name listeners search for you under on Spotify, Apple Music and so on. It is visible at first glance on every album and recording. At Bez Labelu, you enter it when you register, and later it can only be changed in exceptional cases.
Featured Artist (feat.)
A guest artist who takes part in the recording but is not the main person. Their name is shown after the abbreviation “feat.” or “ft.”. Do not enter regular band members, authors or producers here.
Producer
The producer is the person who directed the creation of the recording's sound or oversaw the whole production. Mixing and mastering have their own fields in the form, and someone who only paid for the recording is more likely the producer of the sound recording. Do not enter regular band members, authors, or primary or featured artists here.
The system automatically adds the performer role for the primary artists of the release. Other performers – session musicians, band members, vocalists or a choir – can be credited with a specific role (instrument, voice) in the Additional performer roles block of the track form, even under a pseudonym. We enable these extended credits on request – just write to support. You will find an overview of the roles in the article All options for entering artists and their roles on a recording.
How does a performer earn money?
From the recording
(so-called master rights)
A share of the money the distributor (e.g. Bez Labelu) collects from streams and sales. We pay this income out to you as royalties directly through our platform in accordance with the contractual terms.
From performers' rights
(Intergram)
Money for your performance (recording) being played, for example, on the radio or TV. This money is collected by Intergram. If you are a session musician or singer, or are otherwise involved in recordings, be sure to register with Intergram – otherwise you are missing out on this income.
Do not confuse a performer with an author
A performer and an author are two different roles with different rights. One person can be both – but does not have to be. A singer who sings someone else's song is a performer but not an author. A composer whose song is sung by someone else is an author but not a performer.
Who is an author (composer and lyricist)?