Recording Project Information & Requirements

Sony Music Nashville, A&R Administration Department
1201 Demonbreun Street, Suite 1300
Nashville, TN 37203
Direct phone line: 615-301-4300

General Information About Final Contractual Delivery, General Administrative Policies, General Project Information, Project Delivery Requirements and Deadlines, Archiving, General Questions about Recording Budgets and Cost Approval, Liner and Label Copy, Music Masters

Mindi McCormick, Director, A&R Administration
Direct phone line: 615-301-4434
E-mail: [email protected]

Budgets, Credits, and Music Masters: Recording Budget Detail, Union Contracts, Liner, Label Copy, Lyric Verification, Union Issues, Mastering, Delivery, Vaulting, and Retrieval of Masters

Crystal Loggins, Director, A&R Administration
Direct phone line: 615-301-4326
E-mail: [email protected]

Budgets, Purchase Order Numbers, Invoices, Project Cost Reports:

Melissa von Loewe, Specialist, A&R Administration
Direct phone line: 615-301-4325
E-mail: [email protected]

PO Numbers must be obtained via Email for each one of your invoices, for services rendered.

• Your PO Request/Invoice must include the following details: your name and/or company name, mailing address, phone #, the Sony Music Nashville artist & producer you’ve worked with, the date(s) and location of session, and a detailed description of your services. Please include the type of session – i.e. tracking, overdub, lead or background vocals, digital editing, transfers/safeties, mixing, mastering, etc. Studios and Engineers must also include Song Titles on their invoices. Finally, please include the total dollar amount you will be charging on your invoice, including any applicable daily or hourly rates.
• PO Numbers should be requested as soon as possible after service is rendered. PO Requests made 1 month or more after service rendered will not be honored.
• Email your Invoice to [email protected] and await email reply.
• If you are a new vendor to Sony Music, please submit a W-9 and the Vendor Direct Deposit Form (ACH) along with your initial PO Request.

Download SME Budget Template (EXCEL)

Download SAG-AFTRA Scale (PDF)

Download Form W-4 (PDF)

Download Form W-9 (PDF)

Download Form I-9 (PDF)

Download TEAM Form for W-9 (PDF)

• AFM/AFTRA Contracts (due within 72 hours of Recording Session) with current W-4 (or W-9 if applicable) and Employment Eligibility Forms, I-9.
• Label Copy (due within one week of the song’s recording date) from each Publisher of a song sent via email on their letterhead or by forwarding email directly from the Publisher. Must include Writer, Publisher, Performing Rights Organization, and Administrator Contact Information for all songs tracked, including Publisher Splits percentages.
• Session Information Sheet (due upon completion of Mixing) or acceptable equivalent for every track recorded, whether completed or not and/or released or not. The following three items are included in the Session Information Sheets and are therefore required ‘By-The-Song or Recording’:
  1. Final Status of Track at time of Delivery (Please see status descriptions on Session Information Sheet)
  2. Production Credits (Recording, Mixing,and MasteringStudios and Engineers)
  3. Talent Credits (Musicians with Instruments played and Vocalists)
• Lyrics “As Sung” by the Artist, approved by the publisher and sent via email in a Word document preferably on Publisher Letterhead. If the Artist is a writer or co-writer, you are not required to submit lyrics obtained from the publisher on Publisher Letterhead. You may submit lyrics for songs written by the Artist via email in a Word document. It is the Artist’s discretion whether or not to acquire co-writer approval for any lyric revisions. Also, please obtain and provide Lyric Reprint Permission from the publisher(s) for all songs recorded.

Download Session Information Sheet (PDF)

All materials used and/or created during any and all sessions related to the project. All materials must be clearly labeled as to content and any unlabeled materials will be returned for proper labeling. Upload all files to Veva Sound’s delivery portal, found here: https://upload.vevasound.com/ or deliver hard drives to either Sony Nashville (1201 Demonbreun St., Suite 1300, Nashville, TN 37203) or Veva Sound (705 2nd Ave S., Nashville, TN 37210 - please call ahead for drop off at 615-385-1251). All musician and/or vocalist names must be included in the Comments field of each DAW track. If you upload files to Veva Sound, you still need to deliver to Veva Sound or Sony Nashville any hard drive(s) or materials purchased for the project. Delivery materials include:

1. The masters – all multi-track masters in their final recorded format and all two-track stereo, 5.1 or 7.1 masters in their final mixed formats. Recordings and mixes should be at a minimum resolution of 48kHz/24 bit. Up-sampling is not acceptable.
2. All mix passes, clearly labeled/identified.
3. Processed mix stems.
4. Instrumental mixes (without background vocals) and TV mixes (with background vocals), for all mastered tracks.
5. When mastering, please specify which exact mix version is used for each mastered track.
6. Mastering must be at the native mix resolution, meaning at a minimum of 48kHz/24 bit.
7. Acceptable formats for Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) multi-track or two-track files are ProTools, Nuendo, Digital Performer, Logic, etc.. For analog multi-track recordings, 2”, 1”, ½” or ¼” analog tape. Note: for digital backups/safeties of analog masters, sample rates of 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8 or 385 kHz are requested, as is 24 or 32 bit depth for A/D conversion.

For all Immersive Audio (360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos), please follow SME’s delivery requirements detailed here: https://mediaguide.sonymusic.com/audio/audio-submission-guidelines/