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Who Owns My Music When I Distribute with InterSpace?

Dave Ayodeji
Dave Ayodeji
Updated today
3 min read
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You Keep Full Ownership

When you distribute your music through InterSpace, you retain 100% ownership of:

  • The master recording (the audio file of your song)
  • The composition (the melody and lyrics, if you wrote them)
  • All associated artwork and creative assets

InterSpace is a digital music distributor, not a record label. We are not acquiring any rights to your music.

What Does InterSpace's Licence Actually Cover?

When you agree to InterSpace's Terms of Service and distribute your music, you grant InterSpace a limited, non-exclusive licence to:

  • Deliver your music to digital streaming platforms on your behalf
  • Collect royalties from DSPs and pay them to you
  • Encode and reformat your audio files as required by individual platforms
  • Represent your releases with DSPs for quality control and dispute purposes

This licence is non-exclusive — you can still distribute your music in other ways (physical, sync licensing, live performance) without restriction.

Can I Leave InterSpace and Take My Music With Me?

Yes, at any time. If you cancel your InterSpace subscription or choose to switch to another distributor:

  • You own all your music and can re-distribute it through any other service
  • InterSpace will initiate takedowns from DSPs upon your request
  • Your ISRC and UPC codes remain yours — make sure to note them before switching (see ISRC & UPC article)
  • Any unpaid royalties at the time of cancellation are still owed to you and will be paid out

What About Music I Did Not Write?

If you are releasing a cover song, you are the owner of the master recording (your performance) but not the composition (the original song). You need a mechanical licence to distribute a cover song legally. See Cover Songs: What Licences Are Needed? for more information.

What About Sampling?

If your release contains a sample from another artist's recording, you must have cleared both:

  1. The master recording licence — permission from the owner of the original recording (usually a record label)
  2. The sync/mechanical licence — permission from the publisher of the composition

Uncleared samples are a common cause of release rejection and copyright disputes. InterSpace is not responsible for rights clearances — this is the artist's responsibility.

Will InterSpace Claim My Music on YouTube?

If you opt into YouTube Content ID through InterSpace, we register your recordings so that any third-party use of your music on YouTube is monetised for you. InterSpace does not claim ownership — the Content ID claim generates revenue that flows back to you. See Understanding YouTube Content ID Royalties for details.