Your song demo is your calling card to the music industry. A good demo could possibly result in getting those special gigs on weekend nights. Good demos can open doors and introduce you and your work to professionals and opportunities that may not otherwise be available. A bad demo may lead your band into gigging on weekdays in bad time slots were there usually is no audience into the wrong clubs at the wrong times or worst yet no interest from many people in the music business. Below you will find some smart advice that will position you, your band and your songs in the best light possible. Also included are some important things that can stop your music business pursuit in it’s path.
Your best song needs to be the first song on the demo. Many people in the music business are very busy and if the first song on your demo doesn’t catch their attention it is highly unlikely that they will hear the rest of your CD.
Limit the number of songs you put on a demo. Music industry professionals can be very busy with limited time to give a good listen to your songs. Don’t overload them with all of your work. Pick the best three to six songs to be put on your demo. That should be more than enough to showcase what you and your band can do.
Be sure your contact info is on both the demo CD jacket and on the demo disc itself. Your disc may get separated from the jacket the listener may not dig through the paperwork of all the other bands that have submitted CD’s to find your info. Make it easy for them, have it in both places.
Quality recordings are noticed immediately. Make sure that the CD you are sending was decently recorded. It doesn’t have to be done in a 24 track full blown studio. Make sure the recording is clean and sounding as best as it can.
Finally, don’t shotgun your demo CD. Shotgunning is distributing your CD to hundreds of professional music industry people without checking out what types of music that they work with. As you research the different labels research other artist that are on that label. The best approach to take is to send a letter describing your act and that you would like to submit a CD to their record company. Include a self addressed stamped post card for their reply. This will get you an answer as quick as anything would.
These 5 pieces of advice will pave the way toward having your songs and band heard by those who need to know you and your music.
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