Artist – refers to a performer, a group or a collective who has an audience-facing (brand) name, that is, their music is publicly known and associated with the artist’s name. In terms of copyright, an artist is a performer and has performers’ rights. However, when a recording is produced and released, then artist(s) and non-featured artists (often also referred to as session musicians) usually have a different agreement with the phonogram producer (often a record label). Artists agree generally on a royalty share, etc. deal whereas session musicians typically receive a one-time fee and assign their economic rights to the phonogram producer as well as providing an exclusive licence for their personal rights.
It is increasingly common for artists to produce their own recordings, retain the rights to them and only license the recording rights to a record label for distribution and promotion. In that setting the artist is also a phonogram producer and therefore a rights holder.
Independently of copyright law, an artist’s name might be registered and protected as a trademark, whether as a verbal sign or an image.
