Industry terms that come up when you build with music recognition: how recognition works, how recordings and songs are identified, who holds which rights, and the rules platforms work under. For AudD’s own terms (endpoints, result fields, score, audio_id, streams), see the AudD glossary.
General definitions, not legal advice. Laws and licensing practice differ by country and change over time. As of October 12, 2026.
General definitions, not legal advice. Laws and licensing practice differ by country and change over time. As of October 12, 2026.
ACR (automatic content recognition)
An umbrella term for technology that identifies media from its content, such as audio fingerprinting, watermark detection, and video fingerprinting. Often used for TVs and second-screen apps that identify what’s playing.
Audio fingerprint
A compact signature computed from the sound of a recording, used to look up that recording in a reference database. It works on any copy of the audio, including re-encoded and noisy ones, because it’s derived from the audio itself. A fingerprint identifies a recording, not a song: a cover has a different fingerprint. See how audio fingerprinting works.
Composition (musical work)
The song as written: melody, harmony, and lyrics. Copyright in it usually belongs to the songwriters and their publishers, separately from any recording of it. Recognition identifies recordings, so it doesn’t say who wrote or publishes the composition.
Cover
A new recording of an existing composition by a different performer. It needs permission for the composition (in many countries, a mechanical license) but not for the original recording. A cover has its own fingerprint and doesn’t match the original recording.
Cue sheet
A log of the music used in a film, TV program, or broadcast: each piece’s title, writers, publishers, duration, and type of use. Producers file cue sheets with performing rights organizations so royalties can be paid. Timestamped recognition results can help draft one.
DDEX (Digital Data Exchange)
A standards organization and the family of XML message formats it publishes for exchanging music metadata across the supply chain, for example release deliveries from labels and distributors to DSPs and sales reports back.
Distributor
A company that delivers releases from artists and labels to DSPs and stores, collects the revenue, and pays it out. Distributors often assign the ISRCs and UPCs on releases they deliver.
DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)
A 1998 US law. Section 512 gives online service providers a safe harbor from copyright liability for user content if they meet conditions, including responding to valid takedown notices, offering a counter-notice process, and having a repeat-infringer policy.
DSA (Digital Services Act)
The EU regulation on intermediary services (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), applying in full since February 2024. Among other things it sets notice-and-action rules, requires a statement of reasons when a platform restricts content, and requires many platforms to offer an internal complaint process. It doesn’t define what content is illegal; other laws, such as copyright law, do.
DSP (digital service provider)
A streaming service or download store that distributes music to listeners. In audio engineering, DSP also means digital signal processing.
False positive / false negative
A false positive is a match reported for the wrong recording, or for audio that contains no such recording. A false negative is a recording that was present but not matched. In moderation, false positives block legitimate uploads and false negatives let unlicensed ones through, so the costs differ.
Interpolation
Re-performing part of an existing composition, such as a melody or a lyric, in a new recording instead of reusing the original recording. It needs permission for the composition only. There’s no shared recording, so a fingerprint of the original won’t match it.
ISRC (International Standard Recording Code)
A 12-character code that identifies a specific sound recording (and music video), defined by ISO 3901, for example GBUM71403885. Usually assigned by the label or distributor. Different versions of a track, such as a remaster or a radio edit, typically carry different ISRCs. Recognition results can include the ISRC of the matched recording.
ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code)
A code that identifies a composition, defined by ISO 15707, in the form T-123.456.789-0. One composition has one ISWC however many recordings exist of it. Recognition identifies recordings, so linking a match to an ISWC takes a separate metadata lookup.
Label
The record company that releases a recording. The label named on a release may be an imprint or the distributing company, and it isn’t necessarily the current owner of the recording’s rights. Rights can be licensed by territory, sold, or split. Treat a label name in recognition metadata as a lead, not as proof of ownership.
Mechanical license
Permission to reproduce a composition in a recording, for example on a physical release, as a download, or in on-demand streams. Paid to songwriters and publishers, often through a collective.
MLC (The Mechanical Licensing Collective)
The US organization designated under the Music Modernization Act of 2018 to administer the blanket mechanical license for digital audio services, such as on-demand streaming and downloads, and to distribute those royalties.
Notice and takedown
A process in which a rights holder notifies a hosting service of infringing content and the service removes or disables access to it. Notices typically identify the work and the location of the content; time positions from recognition results can make them specific.
OCSSP (online content-sharing service provider)
A term defined in the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (Directive (EU) 2019/790). Article 17 says these services perform an act of communication to the public when users upload copyrighted works, so they need authorization from rights holders or must show best efforts to obtain it, to make specified works unavailable, and to act on notices and prevent re-uploads. It also protects lawful uses such as quotation and parody, and requires a complaint process. Each EU country implements it in national law.
Performance license
Permission to perform a work publicly, which includes broadcasting and streaming. For compositions it’s usually granted by performing rights organizations. Many countries also pay performance royalties for sound recordings, with rules that vary by country.
PRO / CMO (performing rights organization, collective management organization)
Organizations that license rights on behalf of many rights holders and distribute the royalties. A PRO licenses public performance of compositions (for example ASCAP and BMI in the US, PRS for Music in the UK). CMO is the broader EU term for collecting societies of any kind. Many rely on broadcast and stream monitoring reports to allocate royalties.
Publisher
A company that manages compositions on behalf of songwriters: licensing them, registering them with collecting societies, and collecting royalties. The publisher owns or administers rights in the composition, not in the recording.
Reference database
The set of fingerprints of known recordings that incoming audio is compared against. Recognition can only identify what’s in it, so coverage matters as much as matching quality. AudD searches a public database of commercially released music and, if you have one, your own custom catalog.
Rights holder
Whoever owns or controls a right in a recording or a composition, or is authorized to act for the owner. One track can have several: a label for the recording, publishers for the composition, and different holders in different territories. Recognition identifies the recording; it doesn’t name rights holders.
Safe harbor (safe harbour)
A legal provision that limits an intermediary’s liability for user content when it meets conditions, such as removing content after notice. Examples are DMCA Section 512 in the US and the hosting exemption in the EU (now in the DSA). Under Article 17, OCSSPs can’t rely on the EU hosting exemption for copyright in content their users share.
Sample
A portion of an existing sound recording reused inside a new recording. Clearing it usually takes permission for both the recording and the composition. Recognition against a public database identifies the new track, not the sample inside it. Rights holders look for their samples by putting their own recordings in a custom catalog and scanning candidates; see sample detection.
Sound recording (master)
A fixed recording of a performance; “master” is the version from which copies are made. Rights in it usually belong to the label or the artist, separately from the composition. Audio fingerprinting identifies sound recordings.
Stay-down
Keeping content unavailable after it was taken down, so re-uploads of it are caught too. Fingerprint matching is a common way to do this, because a re-upload of the same recording matches even after re-encoding.
Stem
A submix of one group of elements in a recording, such as drums, bass, or vocals, exported as a separate audio file. Stems are used in remixing, mastering, and sync edits. A stem on its own sounds different from the full mix, so whether it matches the full recording depends on the material.
Sync license
Permission to use a composition in timed relation with visual media, such as a film, ad, game, or online video. Using a specific recording also needs a master use license from the recording’s owner.
UGC (user-generated content)
Content uploaded by a platform’s users rather than its operator, such as videos, clips, livestreams, and podcasts. Music in UGC is the main case for upload scanning.
UPC / EAN
Barcodes that identify a product, in music a release such as an album or a single. A UPC has 12 digits and an EAN 13; both belong to the GS1 GTIN system. A UPC identifies the release, not an individual recording; the same recording can appear on several releases with different UPCs.
Watermark
Data embedded in audio, usually inaudibly, before it’s distributed, and read back later to identify the copy. A watermark only exists on copies that were marked, and can carry information like a distribution channel. A fingerprint needs no marking and works on any copy, but only identifies the recording. See fingerprinting vs. watermarking.
- AudD glossary
- What music recognition matches, and what it doesn’t
- From match to decision
- Music licensing 101 for developers
- ISRC codes explained
