Advisory Member
John Hanes
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been contacted by a record label for information on who is performing on a song. Did this person sing backing vocals, give me a list of performers.”
“As a mixer, we don’t have access to this information. Rarely is it noted in a session who the performers are. We’re lucky to get the lead vocal with the artist’s name, instead of Comp 1 or Audio 30, much less any supporting performer’s information.
The funny thing is that the delivery requirements from the record label, sent to the mixer at the END of the projects, will often require this information, and payments to many people are held up because we can’t get the project delivered and verified. The responsibility needs to start at the beginning of the process, not at the end. Nobody is paying attention from the beginning. Project delivery requirements are completely ignored because there is not a system in place to keep track of the details.
So I look forward to the day when asked who performed on a track, or where was it mastered, who played the drums, etc. That I can say, let's check the VEVA Collect files.”
With close to 30 years of professional experience, thirteen Grammy Awards, four TEC Awards, and over a thousand single and album credits to his name; John Hanes is a name recognized in the offices and A&R suites of record companies as the right-hand man of mixer Serban Ghenea. He is also a talented mixer in his own right.