A secondary artist, also sometimes referred to as a guest artist, featured artist, or featuring performer, describes the performer collaborating with the main artist on a sound recording.
What rights does a secondary artist have?
An artist featured on another artist's normally has a share of the in the performance. In addition, they may have a contractual ownership share of the in the sound recording, or a songwriter’s share of the , and hence a if they wrote or co-wrote the musical work. A secondary artist can be a solo performer, a band, or an orchestra. These can be artists or to a .
Explore our topics on Music Creators’ Rights, Rights Transfer and Licensing and Scope of Protection to learn more about rights.
If the secondary artist is a band, these rights may all be shared between the band members. But that is subject to each member's contributions and their agreements.
Explore both our topics, Songwriting and Recording, to learn more about the roles band members might play and how rights and royalties may be split between them.
Specific rights for the secondary artist usually vary based on agreements between the secondary artist and the main artist or the owner of the sound recording.
Image credit: Jakob Johansson, Parapix