contemporary !?!?!?

[jerrybeirne]

It's not the use of guitars it's the sound and production with them and *possibly* whether they are too prominent. It comes down to comparing to contemporary songs of the genre you are working in. Do you have Sirius XM? I love the Coffee House music station (Channel 006), all singer-songwriter stuff.

Casey
[/quote]

The vocals were done and can't really be changed but I did what I could with the song to at least make the beginning sound a little more current (I hope). I tried keys but nothing sounded good to me. Like you mentioned, finding collaborators on here would be a good idea. But the real lessons are ones I can incorporate earlier on in my songwriting and production. https://www.taxi.com/members/jerrybeirne (We're talking about "I need ya", the first track)

I have a couple other songs I want to get back to, but this one is getting released in a couple of weeks.

No I don't have Sirius, but thanks again for all your advice!

Jerry

[Casey H]

Do you have a signed work for hire from the vocalist? That's essential to pitch for Film/TV.

This new version isn't any better and has issues. I think your best bet would be to find a collaborator and send just the vocal tracks to them to make a new, contemporary backing track. This assumes you have or get the work for hire.

Best,
Casey

[jerrybeirne]

Do you have a signed work for hire from the vocalist? That's essential to pitch for Film/TV.

This new version isn't any better and has issues. I think your best bet would be to find a collaborator and send just the vocal tracks to them to make a new, contemporary backing track. This assumes you have or get the work for hire.

Best,
Casey

Yes she is a session singer and I paid her to sing on this.

[Casey H]

Do you have a signed work for hire from the vocalist? That's essential to pitch for Film/TV.

This new version isn't any better and has issues. I think your best bet would be to find a collaborator and send just the vocal tracks to them to make a new, contemporary backing track. This assumes you have or get the work for hire.

Best,
Casey

Yes she is a session singer and I paid her to sing on this.

I assume that "Yes" means you have actual signed work for hire agreement?

[jerrybeirne]

Yes she is a session singer and I paid her to sing on this.
[/quote]
I assume that "Yes" means you have actual signed work for hire agreement?
[/quote]

Thank you for asking me about this Casey. I hired her thru SoundBetter and I "assumed" (I know assuming isn't good) that this was covered in the contract. Between her and me we DID discuss this before and she just replied to me confirming it saying "I do exclusively work for hire work and I base all of my rates on that. Let me know if you need an actual written agreement but you shouldn't. The final product is 100% yours. I do not want any publishing cut or songwriter credit on the projects."

But you are saying I need to have something more official than this? I worked with other vocalists before and had different royalty agreements.

Regarding this "need ya" song, it's just one song and I'm looking at this as more of a marathon than a sprint. I don't want to change this song any more, I feel like it is what it is. Not that I'm disagreeing with you about what you said, I just prefer to look to incorporate your suggestions in my future songs that I target for pop opportunities here. I have a couple other songs that are nearly done that I want to focus on.

thanks,
Jerry

[cosmicdolphin]

But you are saying I need to have something more official than this? I worked with other vocalists before and had different royalty agreements.

Yes , a library can't just take someone's word for it - there HAS to be a signed agreement between the parties. I am surprised a vocalist for hire would not know this, it's pretty much the insdustry standard. You can't sign the song to a library without one.

There are templates online.

https://www.indiemusicacademy.com/blog/ ... 0to%20know.

[Casey H]

Jerry
I have a WFH template that I've been using for years. If you drop me a PM with your email address, I can send.

If you get the signed WFH from this vocalist, assuming you can still find her, I still think you should find someone to produce around the vocal track. JMHO!

Best,
Casey

[jerrybeirne]

But you are saying I need to have something more official than this? I worked with other vocalists before and had different royalty agreements.

Yes , a library can't just take someone's word for it - there HAS to be a signed agreement between the parties. I am surprised a vocalist for hire would not know this, it's pretty much the insdustry standard. You can't sign the song to a library without one.

There are templates online.

https://www.indiemusicacademy.com/blog/ ... 0to%20know.

Thank you for your response. Yes I agree, I would think session singers would know this. Also that it would be spelled out more clearly in the major sites, which are known as "work for hire" sites for musicians, yet in their rules, it states that the parties need to explicitly agree to this, like you and Casey stated. Live and learn!