Upon joining COSCAP or any similar Collective Management Organisation (CMO), the member transfers control in his/her songs and/or recordings to the (CMO) for administration. COSCAP as a matter of policy will not agree to such requests as it prevents us from operating in a consistent manner and ultimately results in a loss of earnings to the member. Further, the rights in a song or recording are not usually owned by a single rights-owner and clearance by one will not affect the rights of other parties in the work or recording.

The studio producer is the person who will make the song commercially attractive. In many cases the producer will be paid a fee for each track which could be flat and not recovered or it could be an advance against royalties, or a mixture of both, part flat fee and part advance.

The producer will normally have to assign all copyrights they have in the sound recordings to the record company. If the producer performs on the recordings by playing an instrument or programming a keyboard, he may be entitled to the same rights as any other performer (related rights). If he has contributed to the writing of the song he may also have rights as a co-author.

The rights of performers and producers of sound recordings are distinct from those of writers and publishers. The rights of performers are often called the related rights of copyright or simply related rights or sometimes neighbouring rights. However, the producer of sound recordings is granted copyright in the sound recording.

The music producer is responsible for the creative mix, making technical adjustments to the song and guiding the performers whilst liaising with the sound engineer to ensure technical quality and marketability. Very often the music producer will also be a sound engineer and an arranger.

Unlike the music producer, a producer of sound recordings is the main investor of the project and may not necessarily have any hands-on participation. Generally, the producer of sound recordings will be the record label.