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hey guys...can anyone tell me if a listing like this that asks for instrumentals means a song (track) with vocals taken out? or does instrumental indicate that there should be a lead instrument doing a melody? thanks! -TGM

New Listing PRODUCER of a REALITY TV SHOW U-R-G-E-N-T-L-Y needs UPBEAT SINGER/SONGWRITER INSTRUMENTALS with a FOLK, COUNTRY or INDIE vibe. Your pieces must have an EARTHY, ORGANIC and ACOUSTIC sound. They're looking for instrumentals with a DRIVING, MOVING and UPLIFTING vibe a la: "Stubborn Love" by The Lumineers http://bit.ly/1348YO8 "Dirty Paws" by Of Monsters And Men http://bit.ly/TBAPS0 "Home" by Phillip Phillips http://bit.ly/TIOUbQ "Gotta Keep Walking" by Willy Mason http://spoti.fi/UtMyRB Your instrumentals can skew slightly more Country than these references but must sound like they belong in the same playlist. Your pieces must sound contemporary and current. This is for a PBS show that will air on several affiliates in both U.S. and Canada. Because it’s a PBS show with a limited budget, the sync license will be gratis with the artist keeping 100% of all publishing and writer's royalties. If your instrumental is chosen, it will be sent DIRECTLY to the PRODUCER, so you will NOT give up ANY of your publishing and writer’s royalties. You will also receive credit at the end of the show, on the web and in social media with a link to your website or iTunes, etc. Please note, we ran a similar listing for this TV show Producer in November, U121114CO. If you submitted music for that listing, please submit different material for this one. Also, that earlier listing was restricted to Canadians only. This current listing is open to everyone. You must own or control 100% of BOTH the Master AND Composition rights to submit for this listing. As always, do NOT copy or rip off the referenced artists or their music in any way, shape, or form! Broadcast Quality is needed (excellent home recordings are fine). All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS by TAXI. ALL submissions must be received no later than Monday, January 7, 2013, 9:30AM PST. TAXI #U130107IN

Good question. Here's what I submitted:

Lovesick Cowboy

Listen to it here:
http://www.taxi.com/nickkepics



nickkepics

Nice one felonius...hope we find our answer. I have a feeling that it can go either way (with melody and without) as long as it is without a lead vocal...although maybe some others have a definitive answer. Thanks!

What they are asking for is pure instrumentals and tracks designed that way to begin with GENERALLY work best. (But keep reading!)

That being said, I've had a lot of forwards, deals, and placements with backing tracks to vocal songs. It depends on what they are looking for as far as intended use and how well the backing track stands on it's own. For example, one library that lists with Taxi and has many placements does a lot of shorter background cues for cable shows and backing tracks often work well. In other cases, a pure backing track is not interesting enough, lacking a lead melody, is too repetitive, etc.

Some backing tracks really do stand well on their own. One of mine represents about 80% of all my placements. Others jump out as "backing track" and won't fly for a number of applications.

One trick I use sometimes is to take a backing track and shorten it. I might take out the intro bars (since they often are the same as the first few verse bars) to get to the chorus faster. Other times I simply start the track at the beginning of verse 2, leaving out verse 1 and chorus 1. Having VCBC can make a more interesting (less dull and repetitive) instrumental than the full VCVCBC.

For this listing, I did submit a full backing track (wonderfully produced by eeoo) because I thought it might work.

Casey

Thanks Casey...very useful info!