How many separate rights does one song carry?
Behind a three-minute song played at a concert sit several independent rights holders. Knowing who grants what is something you learn before signing, not after.
A song performed on stage is not one legal object. In Türkiye music is protected under Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works, and the same recording carries several distinct rights holders.
The author
Whoever wrote the lyrics and composed the music owns the work. The law grants them two kinds of rights: moral rights, such as being named as author and consenting to alterations; and economic rights, such as reproduction, distribution, performance and communication to the public. Economic rights can be assigned, moral rights cannot — a distinction contracts frequently blur.
Performer and producer
The rights of the person who sings or plays are separate from the author's, and so are those of the producer who financed the recording. These are called related rights. Using a recording rarely takes only one signature.
What happens at a concert
Performing a song live means communicating and performing the work to the public. That permission is normally administered through collecting societies: MESAM and MSG on the authors' side, MÜYORBİR for performers, MÜ-YAP for producers. Whether the venue already holds a licence or the promoter carries the obligation is a clause that belongs explicitly in the concert contract.
In practice
Settle the repertoire in advance, put in writing which right you obtained from whom if a recording is involved, and ask about the venue's existing licences before you sign. Fixing it afterwards always costs more.
This piece is general information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for any specific situation.