Some basic questions about sending demos out

badgerer

badgerer

New member
Hey there,

I feel like I've got 5 or so pretty good songs recorded to a home recording kind of standard, and I'm thinking what have I got to lose in sending the songs out to a few labels? I don't have the resources to make any kind of fancy artwork or anything, just a burned cd of my music.

Will this just be immediatly disregarded by any record label?
What would be the likelihood of anyone actually listening to my songs?
What should I write in the cd case?
Should I cut down the songs to show a 'preview' of the whole song or just keep them as a whole?
Is there a listing of record labels or addresses i should send songs to? What kind of record labels will be looking for a solo artist doing mainly acoustic pop/rock in the style of coldplay-ish? (not really sure how to describe my songs)

Thanks, I look forward to someone being able to help me out.

Tom
 
Most label are going to be looking for promo packs that have very professional artwork and nice pics.. biography etc. In todays world the most important thing would be a following. Record companies are all about money. It doesn't matter to them how talented you are but rather are people willing to pay to see you perform whatever you perform. I think it sucks. I mailed a label once and said "If i had the money to make a promo pack to the extent your asking for, I obviously wouldn't be looking for a label to finance my project".
Look for people who believe in what your doing to help with artwork, photos and professional "looking" things. Most label folks will round file a cd or tape that has no visual effort. Maybe this BBS has some talented volunteers to make it shiney.

Standard Protocol:

Find a band to work with.

Practice

Do lots O'gigs

Build a following... and network with other bands..Gig swap.

Submit your promo pack.

I get stuff from Taxi on what labels are looking for, I don't know how I got on their mailing list, but they seem to be looking for everything.

SoMm
 
This is a very tough call as I have been on all sides of the fence on this one.
The chances of anyone listening at a record company are slim to none. The amount of CD's that are received everyday is staggering. Even the small independent labels get 5 - 10 per day. One of the big problems is A&R and studio guys get jaded very quick to the point of if they are not impressed by the first 15 seconds its next and if the next is similar to the first it gets ejected and put in the form letter out pile. I’m working on a country project right now and have over 500 songs from writers in Nashville and LA some of the material is great some is pretty bad. The great thing about Nashville is you have all these independent song pluggers who represent songwriters. They send out material suitable for artists based on studio and record company requests. Kind of like a booking agent for songwriters.
Do not waste your money and send out a bunch of CD's. Spend more time and energy looking into songwriting organizations and from there you can network and find the proper place to showcase your music.
As well if your CD has an acoustic guitar and a voice make sure its a killer sounding guitar and voice. If you have a band make sure it sounds like a real band. The day of crap demos is over.
Good luck


http://www.4frontmusic.com/prodhome.htm
Why demo tapes are rejected

http://www.my3kidsmusic.com/
Nashville writer etc etc

http://musicians.about.com/?once=true&
good free info

http://www.clubnashville.com/pluggers.htm

http://www.songlink.com/

http://www.tunesmith.net/

http://www.getsigned.com/
 
I'd agree...but...

Yeh, I was of the view that sending out unsolicited material was a waste of time. But then recently i read the story of a young British band from a provincial town who'd got signed because someone (a secretary at the record company I recall) just happened to pick up their demo CD like the pic of one of the band and listen to it, then recomend it to A&R!! At least that's the story they put out, if it can be believed.

I suppose using a lottery analogy, think of your unsolicited demo as like buying a 'lottery ticket' - the chances are it's going to end up in the bin, but there's always a one in a million chance that the right person will pick it up with time on their hands on the right day and like it...and you COULD win the lottery! If you don't send out the CDs that can never happen, because you never buy a lottery ticket.

Just be able to waste lots of money on CDs press kit and postage and just don't ever expect to hear anything back.

Dreams are made of this!
 
glynb - you're right, that's only part of the Darkness story. The other bit is that they worked like hell to build a fanbase. EMI and Universal turned them down, but the word on the street had spread about their live gigs and they kept coming to the attention of the A&R people. Korda Marshall had just been appointed head of Warner's East West label - he signed them on his second day (he spent the first day cutting the artist roster down from 15 to 6 and firing 20% of the staff!)

He said: "The Darkness story is really four people,” says Marshall. “Me and my head of A&R Max Lousada, then my talent scout Joel De’ath, who’s 19, and my daughter Summer, who’s 17, and fell in love with them before anyone else. The two of them wouldn’t leave me and my head of A&R alone, and made it clear there’d be physical damage if we didn’t get involved.”

Play live, build a following - somebody might just hear of you...
 
I'm pretty good at graphic art/design & layout... If you're interested, I'd be more than happy to help out.

Here's what I propose: Send me a copy of the music so I can hear it, send along some photos of the band members and I'll come up with three ideas which I will send back in both print and on "copy ready" format. Just bring the CD to your local print shop and they'll be able to run off a few short runs for you at a fair price.

Also send a bio of the band and of each band member... keep then reletively short (about a paragraph) -- Also include a list of credits (optional).

Only thing I ask is my name appears somewhere on the liner as the Graphic Artist

- Tanlith -
 
tanlith said:
I'm pretty good at graphic art/design & layout... If you're interested, I'd be more than happy to help out.

Here's what I propose: Send me a copy of the music so I can hear it, send along some photos of the band members and I'll come up with three ideas which I will send back in both print and on "copy ready" format. Just bring the CD to your local print shop and they'll be able to run off a few short runs for you at a fair price.

Also send a bio of the band and of each band member... keep then reletively short (about a paragraph) -- Also include a list of credits (optional).

Only thing I ask is my name appears somewhere on the liner as the Graphic Artist

- Tanlith -
Click to expand...

Person responsible for Strippers, Beer and.........artwork Tanlith


Very noble jesture
 
pashop said:
Person responsible for Strippers, Beer and.........artwork Tanlith


Very noble jesture
Click to expand...


Shhh! Most of my artwork is of strippers... and I draw under the infuence of... yep you guessed it BEER!

hehehehe


So when you commin through town man?!?!?!

- Tanlith -
 
Oddly enough I have 120 decks of stage in Windsor tonight for some kind of wrestling show. They picked up.... and I’m in Port Huron tomorrow.




I will get there someday soon..........mean while get back to that Photo Shop and ease up on the beer you know what it does to ya.



Cheers
 
Not the Darkness

Gary, it wasn't the Darkness I was thinking of actualy, it was another band who I can't remeber the name of! The Darkness story actualy seems more to demonstrate the 'who you know' side of things - from what you say it was the daughter of the guy who was high up in the record label that brought the band to his attention, NOT an unsolicited demo CD!

Of course you argument is perfectly valid that the reason the 17 year old daughter probably knew about the band was the fact that they kept gigging for years to get the name known and build a following.

But in addition to gigging etc, sending out blind demos to people can't do any harm at all, providing you have money to waste on a million to one shot.
 
pashop said:
Oddly enough I have 120 decks of stage in Windsor tonight for some kind of wrestling show. They picked up.... and I’m in Port Huron tomorrow.




I will get there someday soon..........mean while get back to that Photo Shop and ease up on the beer you know what it does to ya.



Cheers
Click to expand...


Heeeey...... I'm not as think as you drunk I am! I am in no way under the alfalence of inkahol!

- Tanlith -
*hic*
 
pashop said:
How many times have I told you not to drink beer with a straw
Cheers
Click to expand...
But wait! If you drink your black-and-tan with a straw you can keep adjusting the depth of the straw and it's like having two beers in one glass!:D
 
You've got nothing to lose, and these days you need a demo just to get a gig at the local beer (theres that lovely word again) joint.

>Demo should be on CD
>It should be a pro recording (or sound like one)
>It should be no more than three songs
>Your best song should be first
>Print contact info DIRECTLY on the CD. Invariably the jewel case will get lost.
>A demo sent by an insider (lawyer, producer, studio owner, etc) will get more attention than you can get.
>Dont waste time with picture and bio. When they want it, they will ask (besides, it will get lost, too).

I think thats about it :^}

BEER....
 
I feel like I've got 5 or so pretty good songs recorded to a home recording kind of standard, and I'm thinking what have I got to lose in sending the songs out to a few labels? I don't have the resources to make any kind of fancy artwork or anything, just a burned cd of my music.
Click to expand...
Tom,
Gently now - there is NO FREE MILLION DOLLARS in this industry. Without resources, dealing with ANY major label is going to be a great deal harder, if not impossible.

I would suggest that you read http://www.vmgworldwide.com/fullsite.htm and learn how this industry really works. You might also read the Steve Albini Article at http://www.avmrnetwork.com/MusicDiscussionsAndArticles/SteveAlbiniArticle.html

Of course, you can waste your time and money first. When you get done, then you might then read the information and learn something - like all the "what-won't-work" and the 'what-never-did-work" scenarios. Then you'll wish you did it right the first time. Hopefully you won't be out of time, energy, and/or money by then.

Will this just be immediatly disregarded by any record label?
Click to expand...
Most of the time they are disregarded by record labels. Reasons for such could be written in a book. Perhaps that would make a good idea for another thread.

What would be the likelihood of anyone actually listening to my songs?
Click to expand...
The likelihood is almost impossible. You have to figure out if you want to be the exception or the rule. 99.999999% of all demos are ignored.

What should I write in the cd case?
Click to expand...
Your name, address, phone number, and email address. Do the same on EVERY piece of information that you send. Sometimes parts of your package get separated and if you don't put the information on your paperwork, your package is another one that is trash bound.

Should I cut down the songs to show a 'preview' of the whole song or just keep them as a whole?
Click to expand...
If you were doing a demo for booking purposes, a suggestion would be to do parts of songs. If you plan on making an approach to a record label, do the entire song.

Is there a listing of record labels or addresses i should send songs to?
Click to expand...
Buy one of the industry directories. Check the ones out on billboard.com and find the one that most suits your needs.

What kind of record labels will be looking for a solo artist doing mainly acoustic pop/rock in the style of coldplay-ish? (not really sure how to describe my songs)
Click to expand...
Artists often have a problem describing their music. What does your listening audience have to say what type it is? That is something that you should be paying attention to if you are a performing artist.

Thanks, I look forward to someone being able to help me out.
Click to expand...
The best advice anyone can give you is to learn how this industry really works before you waste any more time, energy, and/or money!
 
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Picture?

">Dont waste time with picture and bio. When they want it, they will ask (besides, it will get lost, too)."

Hmmm, I wondered about that. I mean if you have an extremely good looking/attractive member of the band couldn't it help to get your package to the top of the pile and your CD at least played? I can see the benefit of not including a picture if you are not good looking or fit the 'youthfull' image, given the nature of the business! But if you are photogenic then why not use that to your advantage?

I have often wondered if anyone has conducted an experiment whereby an older person records some great sounding music and sends it off together with a picture of a young attractive band, just to see if they would get more attention compared with sending off a CD together with a 'genuine' picture of themselves? Anyone ever had any stories of this kind of thing happening? It must have done in the past.

Imagine how haertbreaking it would be, the A&R guy seems really interested after hearing your demo until he sees you're a 50 something guy with a beer belly, working alone, then suddenly looses interest! LOL.
 
ChristopherM said:
But wait! If you drink your black-and-tan with a straw you can keep adjusting the depth of the straw and it's like having two beers in one glass!:D
Click to expand...


Hey!!!! Straws!!! Woah!!!! You guys just solved my drinking problem: 2 hands / 1 mouth!!!!

COOOLS!!!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

- Tanlith -
 
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