Studio Pros - Buyer Beware

[thegajman]

I had been quite happily using Studio Pros for vocals over the last couple of years or so. Their service is great, the vocalists are great and generally there is very little work to do with the finished vocals that they send you.

However... I have recently discovered that their generic Work For Hire agreement that they make available on their website (terms of service), is NOT ACCEPTED by some publishers.

Recently, I was really excited to have a song submission accepted by a well known Taxi friendly publisher, only to find that they now won't take the song without a WFH that is actually signed by the vocalist. Studio Pros are not able to provide this.

So, if you are recording songs that you hope to sync in film and TV through a publisher - either work directly with your vocalist and get that signed WFH, or if you want to use an online vocalist from SoundBetter (etc.), negotiate a signed WFH as part of the deal.

[lesmac]

Thanks for that. Haven't used them for a while myself due to the low Aussie dollar but I was unaware of the problem you describe.

[funsongs]

Hey Glenn - as I'm one of those who uses hired help exclusively (I don't have my own studio) - this is an important item; especially now in California with this AB-5 thing.
This might be a good topic for a TAXI TV episode - to get some up-to-date WFH documents that have the broadest acceptance.
It sure would simplify things if there was one, universally-recognized (and simple) form.
Cheers,
Peter

PS: mine would be something like:
"Peter Rahill hired me to play/sing on his stuff. We're good. We're done. He can do whatever he wants with it."
signed: (name & address of payee)/date

[cosmicdolphin]

I can't even fathom how paying other people would compute when I look at my royalty statement

[lesmac]

post by cosmicdolphin » Sat May 23, 2020 9:20 am
I can't even fathom how paying other people would compute when I look at my royalty statement

Artist pitches and add placements. The big gamble!

[Casey H]

Great advice.
I never accept a generic studio WFH. It must be signed by the actual performers. Always ask upfront before hiring. I recently worked with a good studio who does have the performer sign. I also asked them to modify the agreement to say I have the right to use the artist's name and pee-approved likeness because some libraries (like a certain Taxi friendly library) require that.

Sorry you went through this. I assume you have the no-vocal track. I'm wondering if you could have the vocals re-done by someone who will sign a WFH that meets requirements.

Also: Make sure they aren't using any union member musicians working non-scale. That's also a problem.

Best of luck
Casey

[MBantle]

I had been quite happily using Studio Pros for vocals over the last couple of years or so. Their service is great, the vocalists are great and generally there is very little work to do with the finished vocals that they send you.

However... I have recently discovered that their generic Work For Hire agreement that they make available on their website (terms of service), is NOT ACCEPTED by some publishers.

Recently, I was really excited to have a song submission accepted by a well known Taxi friendly publisher, only to find that they now won't take the song without a WFH that is actually signed by the vocalist. Studio Pros are not able to provide this.

So, if you are recording songs that you hope to sync in film and TV through a publisher - either work directly with your vocalist and get that signed WFH, or if you want to use an online vocalist from SoundBetter (etc.), negotiate a signed WFH as part of the deal.

Thanks! That is very helpful. I used them a few times for vocalist but I was not happy with the recording quality of the vocals (the performance was great though) and even after they re-recorded them (where the performance - probably due to some degree of frustration - was less great) I had to edit a lot.

[cosmicdolphin]

post by cosmicdolphin » Sat May 23, 2020 9:20 am
I can't even fathom how paying other people would compute when I look at my royalty statement

Artist pitches and Ad placements. The big gamble!

Yeah it's more like playing the lottery at that point.

[thegajman]

Hey.. thanks for the replies guys.. I thought I ticked the "notify me" box and hadn't heard anything so didn't check back on the thread.

Casey : Yeah I have the music bed and am definitely thinking about getting a new vocal, just hard to justify more coin! Man I wish I could sing LOL.

[melodymessiah]

one of the reasons i don't hire singers from studiopros, is that you don't get to correspond directly with the singers. this is a big issue with me.