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A young woman playing the violin in an orchestra, that is seen in the background A young woman playing the violin in an orchestra, that is seen in the background

What is an orchestra?


2 min read


Understand the role an orchestra plays when it comes to recording.

An orchestra refers to a group of instrumentalists.

What is an orchestra?

While a band refers generally to a small group of or singers, an orchestra refers to a group of instrumentalists. Orchestras are common in classical music and can include hundreds of musicians. They are often publicly funded or operated as a business, and musicians performing for orchestras are hired by the orchestra. Orchestras can be as main or featured artists.

What rights does an orchestra have?

Orchestras might own all or some of the in the . Visit our page on Sound Recording Owners to learn more.

The orchestra typically owns and manages the rights that can be exploited contractually, whereas the musicians performing for the orchestra might be entitled to some for performers' rights managed collectively by a .

Orchestras usually perform existing but if they perform and record musical works, then the and of those works qualify as , unless they created the music under a agreement and, therefore, will own the rights in those musical works. See our pages on Composers and Lyricists to learn more.

Image credit: Martin Dam Kristensen