# ASC 928-10: Entertainment—Music — Overall Source: FASB Accounting Standards Codification, Basic View [Read online](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/928/10/) Study and research edition. Verify current requirements with the official source. Summaries, enrichment, and tags are machine-generated study aids. Paragraph html preserves source markup; snippet is abbreviated. Pending content is not necessarily effective. Tables and mathematical or amendment markup are retained as HTML where Markdown would lose structure. Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T02:12:12.808Z to 2026-09-10T02:12:18.919Z Record version: sha256:e0570fd1f957649891c3e20b322a353077d93f62ca05cc2dd8a37bc47704af1f Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. ## ASC 928-10: Entertainment—Music — Overall ### Machine-generated study aids ```json { "summary": "ASC 928-10 is the overview and scope subtopic for accounting by entities in the record and music industry. It flags the topics covered elsewhere in ASC 928 — licensing of music copyrights and record masters, artist compensation costs (including royalties paid to recording artists), costs of producing record masters, and licensees' accounting for fees and minimum guarantees. The guidance is incremental industry-specific guidance only; entities in scope must still follow all other applicable GAAP.", "key_points": [ "The Entertainment—Music Topic addresses accounting and reporting by entities in the music industry, including license agreements for music copyrights and record masters (928-10-05-1).", "It provides guidance on artist compensation costs, compensation paid to recording artists in the form of royalties, and the costs of producing record masters (928-10-05-1).", "It also addresses licensee accounting for various fees and for minimum guarantees stipulated in a license agreement (928-10-05-1).", "Subtopics within ASC 928 provide only incremental industry-specific guidance; entities in scope must also comply with applicable guidance outside the Topic (928-10-15-1).", "The guidance applies to both licensors and licensees in the record and music industry (928-10-15-2)." ], "categories": [ "Industry-specific", "Revenue", "Recognition", "Intangibles and goodwill" ], "audience_level": "introductory", "student_note": "This is a scope/overview subtopic, so the exam point is knowing what ASC 928 covers and that it is only incremental guidance — music entities still apply general GAAP (e.g., ASC 606 for revenue) unless ASC 928 says otherwise. A common misunderstanding is treating ASC 928 as a complete, self-contained accounting model for music companies.", "related_topics": [ "928-340", "928-405", "928-430", "926", "606", "920" ], "key_concepts": [ "music industry", "license agreement", "music copyright", "record master", "artist compensation cost", "recording artist royalties", "minimum guarantee", "incremental industry guidance" ] } ``` Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T02:12:12.808Z to 2026-09-10T02:12:12.808Z Record version: sha256:59dbcd42fa89754923b7822005756bee55ef2395601dc8b812b50b5a7d7bb278 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. ## ASC 928-10-05: 05 Overview and Background [Read section](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/928/10/#05-overview-and-background) SEC content: no ##### [928-10-05-1](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/928/10/#928-10-05-1) Pending content: no Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T02:12:12.808Z to 2026-09-10T02:12:12.808Z Record version: sha256:e807cc6af087bd7bdf1d36cdc605d50fc42b30a6db7c18d0f27b230fc4249b66 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. The Entertainment—Music Topic addresses the accounting and reporting by entities in the music industry. Such entities often enter into contractual agreements to license music copyrights or [record masters](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/glossary/r/#record-master "The master tape resulting from the performance of the artist. It is used to produce molds for commercial record production and other tapes for use in making cartridges, cassettes, DVDs, and reel tapes. The costs of producing a record master include the cost of the musical talent (musicians, vocal background, and arrangements); the cost of the technical talent for engineering, directing, and mixing; costs for the use of the equipment to record and produce the master; and studio facility charges. Under the standard type of artist contract, the record company bears a portion of the cost and recovers a portion of the cost from the artist out of designated royalties earned. However, either party may bear all or most of the cost."). This Topic provides accounting guidance for such [license agreements](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/glossary/l/#license-agreements "Contractual arrangements entered into by an owner (licensor) of a record master or music copyright with a licensee granting the licensee the right to sell or distribute records or music for a fixed fee paid to the licensor or for a fee based on sales of records or music. License agreements are modifications of the compulsory provisions of the copyright law."), as well as for artist compensation costs, for compensation paid to recording artists in the form of [royalties](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/glossary/r/#royalties "Amounts paid to record producers, songwriters, or other artists for their participation in making records and to music publishers for their copyright interest in music. Amounts for artists are determined by the terms of personal service contracts negotiated between the artists and record entities and usually are determined based upon a percentage of sales activity and license fee income, adjusted for estimated sales returns. Royalties for publishing are based on the copyright or other applicable laws, but the requirements of the law may be modified by licenses issued by the publishers."), and for the costs of producing record masters. It also addresses the accounting by licensees for various fees and for any [minimum guarantees](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/glossary/m/#minimum-guarantee "An amount paid in advance by a licensee to a licensor for the right to sell or distribute records or music.") stipulated in a license agreement. Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T02:12:15.749Z to 2026-09-10T02:12:15.749Z Record version: sha256:0dc54f021d96c700b637f45a5877f9125dd5f8f90a53c0c08413ccc1be4d07e3 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. ## ASC 928-10-15: 15 Scope and Scope Exceptions [Read section](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/928/10/#15-scope-and-scope-exceptions) SEC content: no #### Overall Guidance ##### [928-10-15-1](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/928/10/#928-10-15-1) Pending content: no Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T02:12:15.749Z to 2026-09-10T02:12:15.749Z Record version: sha256:47dfc162025596600693ce5b719f942d051baffe4904c4648df41b6435a58572 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. The Subtopics within the Entertainment—Music Topic only provide incremental industry-specific guidance for the entities defined in this Scope Section, or as further defined in the Scope Sections of the individual Entertainment—Music Subtopics. Entities within the scope of this Topic shall also comply with the applicable guidance not included in this Topic. #### Entities ##### [928-10-15-2](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/928/10/#928-10-15-2) Pending content: no Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T02:12:15.749Z to 2026-09-10T02:12:15.749Z Record version: sha256:50e589a390c514249a644b1e5ce8276b04ef4c9883eb0ddbdaa16b9900246d52 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. The guidance in the Entertainment—Music Topic applies to licensors and licensees in the record and music industry.