Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

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taylorxyoung
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Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by taylorxyoung » Sat May 05, 2018 10:16 am

Most of my uploaded material are full songs with vocals, but I have access to the instrumentals. Should I upload both versions to be safe to submit? I submitted something with vocals to a request for instrumentals, thinking maybe there would be some communication where I let them know I could remove them if they decided to use the song, but then realized there’s no comment section or anything when submitting.

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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by hummingbird » Sat May 05, 2018 11:39 am

Only instrumentals should be submitted to listings asking for instrumentals. Depending on the piece you might wish to add another line to replace the vocal, perhaps a piano melody for example.

Do remember though, that the recording of the song with vocals and an alt mix without vocals are part of the same master recording. Therefore if you sign the instrumental version to an exclusive deal you then cannot pitch or sign the full song to other deals, and if you sign the vocal version of the song to an exclusive deal, you cannot then pitch or sign the instrumental only to another entity.

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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sat May 05, 2018 12:02 pm

If they are after a " Cue " then it tends to be shorter and have a different structure to an " Instrumental " so be sure to read the listing.

Don't send anything with vocals on unless it's a song listing, it's just a waste of $5 ...if it was me I'd probably use my songs for song pitches because they always want the instrumental as well, and think about writing new cues if you want to go after those.

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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by taylorxyoung » Sat May 05, 2018 2:44 pm

Awesome input thanks. I was able to edit my recent submissions to be instrumental versions. Most of my stuff is my bands’ work so I won’t be aiming for exclusive stuff.

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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by hummingbird » Sat May 05, 2018 4:27 pm

Just make sure the band is ok with pitching and signing masters to libraries and publishers. Your cowriters will have to sign off on any deals.
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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sun May 06, 2018 5:58 am

hummingbird wrote:Just make sure the band is ok with pitching and signing masters to libraries and publishers. Your cowriters will have to sign off on any deals.
+1

Everybody needs to be on the same page in your band, splits agreed, all writers enrolled with a PRO etc. or WFH agreements signed so you can hand that info across if a Library wants to sign anything. Personally I don't think music licensing makes for a good team sport unless the other musicians are doing it as well. i.e. they are other Taxi members etc. When it comes to the crunch a lot of musicians who aren't savvy in this sort of thing can drag their heels or make you look unprofessional unless you got all your ducks lined up.

Mark

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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by taylorxyoung » Tue May 08, 2018 12:42 am

Yeah I figured. My brother is the only other co-writer on the things I'm submitting so it'll be an easy task. Thank you everyone!

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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by BryanWisda » Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:21 pm

Newbie question....

If a post says something like "with Male or Female vocals/lyrics" does this preclude instrumental tracks?
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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by cosmicdolphin » Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:30 am

BryanWisda wrote:
Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:21 pm
Newbie question....

If a post says something like "with Male or Female vocals/lyrics" does this preclude instrumental tracks?
Yes. The instrumental requests are in their own section , the rest are for songs.

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Re: Instrumental vs Non-instrumental

Post by BryanWisda » Tue Jun 23, 2020 8:11 pm

cosmicdolphin wrote:
Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:30 am
BryanWisda wrote:
Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:21 pm
Newbie question....

If a post says something like "with Male or Female vocals/lyrics" does this preclude instrumental tracks?
Yes. The instrumental requests are in their own section , the rest are for songs.
Thank you! I figured as much.
Cheers!
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