A controlled composition clause reduces the mechanical royalty a label pays a songwriter-artist on songs that artist wrote or controls, and typically caps how many songs per album are paid at all.
The mechanism
Mechanical royalties are otherwise set by statute per composition. The clause contracts around that for compositions the artist controls, commonly at a reduced percentage of the statutory rate and with a cap on the number of tracks counted per album.
A worked example
Under a clause capping payment at ten tracks, an artist who writes fourteen songs on their own album is paid mechanicals on ten of them, at the reduced rate.
What it is confused with
- Performance royalties Performance royalties are collected by PROs for public performance and are not affected by this clause, which concerns mechanicals.
Why it matters
It applies specifically to artists who write their own material, so the more of your own album you wrote, the more it costs you.
Sources: US Copyright Office
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Related: Recoupment · Black box royalties · 360 deal