Yet another one of those ambigious "legal/ethical" questions about clients...

[Mattayus]

Sorry, I know the forum is completely littered with these but I thought I'd add to the dogpile.

Scenario: Client gets you to mix/master their shit. You want to use it as part of your streaming portfolio as you think it reflects your work really well and came out great. Client doesn't get back to you about using it - Do you use it anyway? I'm not sure where the black/white/grey areas are with this.

Any help would be awesome, thanks!

 

[tempe]

This is easiest if you make a specification in your contract that states you are allowed to use a track or a portion of a track for promotional material after the project is released. If you didn't do this I'm afraid you'll have to ask for the bands permission. It's a bit of a grey area though because if they are just a small local band, they probably aren't going to be to upset with the free exposure!

 

[egan.]

If they don't have it up streaming you shouldn't either if you don't have express permission. If it's on their myspace or facebook you are probably ok. It's probably not a huge issue (if you aren't functionally leaking tracks) but you are performing work for hire and need to tread carefully if you don't want to piss off clients. Er on the side of caution b/c positive word of mouth from a past client is worth a lot more biz wise than website samples.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Always, always, always get the client's permission. Whether it's ethically or legally correct or not, if the band doesn't like it, you will get a dickhead stamp on your forehead from their part.

Client relationships are the single most important aspect of this business. Be very careful not to fuck up there.

 

[guitarguru777]

ALWAYS get permission!

Its part of my contracts that I am allowed to use a 60 to 180 second sample for my website for ALL of my projects, but its not allowed up before the CD release unless the band / management / label approves it. If they approve it then we discuss if its a sample or a full length song.

 

[Mattayus]

Yeah to be honest, even if it was legally sound to do so, I still wouldn't as a point of ethics/morals. I'm not that hard-nosed about this shit that I'd lose a working relationship over it. Thanks for the answers dudes!

 

[timislegend]

ALWAYS get permission!

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