Music and Audio Blog

Archive for October, 2008

I just wanted to let you guys know about a new site called singerexpress.com. It is for singers and music producers that use singers in their productions. I found it looking for a singer for a Waffle House Jukebox song. In short, a singer signs up with the site and gets a page with a bio, audio demo samples of their singing, etc. Producers sign up to find singers. Once they find a singer that fits what they are looking for, they negotiate price with the singer, get the job done, and everyone is happy. The singer gets to pick 3 different styles…for more styles, there is extra cost. There are a lot of options, so just go check it out…I just joined it myself as a producer and singer, so I’ll let you know how it goes. Oh yea, if you join now, you get 75% off since they are new and will be building this year. Seems like a great idea though.

That’s it for now….
Yak Later
DJ

As general questions go, this is probably one of the most general. Is it legal to record telephone calls? Well, yes, maybe, and no, depending on your circumstances.

Let’s start with yes. If you ask the other party or parties to the conversation for their permission to record, and they give you that permission, it’s legal. Of course this is not legal advice, and if you have any doubts, you should check with an attorney. But, as a rule, if all parties consent to the recording, then it’s within the law.

Where maybe comes in is when you know you’re recording, but no one else on the line knows. In some jurisdictions you may be okay, as long as one party to the recording knows and consents. But if you are planning to record a conversation secretly, you should get very good advice from an attorney with experience in this field, before you record the conversation.

“No” comes in when you’re taping someone else’s conversations, and no one being recorded knows it. That would, actually, qualify as an illegal wiretap in most cases. That would be a very bad thing. Even if you have the most ironclad of reasons, unless you’re authorized by someone who has the legal authority to okay something like that, secretly taping other people’s phone conversations is always going to have some very serious consequences if you’re caught.

If you need to record phone calls, the best way to make sure you’re within the law is to get the permission of the other party. If for some reason you are unable to do that, you should be very sure about the laws in your location as well as the other person’s location, and be prepared to defend your position to the other person, informally if not in court.