R&B legend, Anita Baker, is currently in the battle of a lifetime for her masters. For years, several artists have fought for the right to own their masters, which is a monumental feat. The master [recording] is an artist’s holy grail as it's the original version of a recording in which everything stems from.
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In order for a song be available on streaming platforms, soundtracks, etc., it has to be licensed by the person who owns the master’s rights. Essentially, whoever owns the masters has full control over what can be done with a song. Hence why Aaliyah’s full catalog is unavailable for streaming. In Anita Baker’s case, she’s “outlived” all of her artists' contracts, meaning that her name and likeness aren’t owned by any label and “by law,” her masters should be returned to her. Yahoo! News reported that the Rapture singer is referring to copyright reversion that allows “authors of both [composition and sound recording copyrights] to reclaim the copyrights to their original creations after a period of 35 years,” according to the Future of Music Coalition.
However, the powers that were aren’t going down without a fight, and thankfully, neither is Baker. She also noted that certain streaming platforms are paying artists one-third or ½ a penny per stream, not including taxes and fees, for recordings that are “inferior and missing original instrumentation,” and even vinyls released in present day are “are not from original analog [masters] but, from re-processed.” It’s no secret that many artists don’t own their masters, hence why a large portion of their profit stems from other endeavors like brand deals and merchandise.
Baker ended the conversation saying she was no longer "free advertising for the Theives in The Temple," paired with a gif of the late icon, Prince, who was very vocal about artists owning and being in control of their music throughout his career.
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