The purpose of this paper is to examine how music dedication functioned in the patronage, or the relationship between the dedicator and the dedicatee, in late 16`h -century England. The dedicatory words usually stated that the music book would be dedicated to the dedicatee in return for some kinds of benefits offered to the dedicator. From this point of view, music dedication might be regarded as an obligation for the musician to provide music for the patron. Through an investigation of the dedicated music books, however, the author asserts that the actual functions of music dedication were more complicated. The most important fact to note is that the dedication of published music books was not only intended for the dedicatee, but also for their "readers". This type of dedication, therefore, must be differentiated from the older form of patronage, where the musician provided works and performances only by request of the patron.