Demo Submissions

J

James HE

a spoonfull weighs a ton
I bought the 1999 Songwriters market a year ago, completely intending that I waould use it and start sending out demos. Hasen't happened yet. I'm curious though, has anyone around here ever submitted anything to a label or anything? I know the basic guidelines and stuff, But if anyone has had any experience with it, maybe you could let us know how it went and what you would do diiferent if you were to do it again and just any other advise...

-jhe
 
That's a good question James. I bought the book too and never got around to sending anything out.
 
Why must we be such slackers? ...Let me guess "The demo isn't perfect enough yet"...
I bet if either of us actually sent anything, we might have a deal right now. (or maybe a stack of rejection letters :D)

-jhe
 
Submitting a demo "cold" to a place is like playing the lottery. In most cases the demo goes straight to the trash with a smirk; unopened and unlistened to(that is unless you send a tape, in which case it can be recorded over with the recipients favorite tunes). You'll be wasting your time and money with each submission.

If you take the "submitting a demo" route, it's important to first call the place you are sending to. Establish a relationship with someone there,let them know who you are, find out if they are accepting submissions. If they are, tell them what you're all about and ask if they'd be interested in receiving a demo from you. This way they'll be expecting you. Now you've raised the odds in your favor of receiving a follow-up by about one quarter of a percent.

Unless you're extremely lucky(this has nothing to do with talent) prepare yourself for more rejection than you've ever experienced in your life. Learn how not to take rejection personally and you'll be in good shape.

Expect nothing.

[This message has been edited by hixmix (edited 03-24-2000).]
 
There were plenty of listings in the book that weren't record lables that do take submissions. I was looking more at some of the workshops and stuff like that more than anything else. There were also some grants that I found interesting as well. Still a long shot, especially when you don't send anything in!

Actually James you were pretty close to the mark. At the time I got the book and made my list of possible submissions, I didn't have any lyrics written or any vocals recorded. I thought for what I do I should have complete songs ready before I attempted any kind of "pitch". If you're lucky enough to get someone's ear, you've only got one shot at it so you should be as ready as possible. At least that was my thinking.

I don't know what the hell to do with all this stuff now. Hopefully by summer...I shouldn't doubt myself...definately by this summer I'll have completed enough songs for a CD. Then what, you know? I guess I'll worry about that when the time comes.
 
First thing is to know your market and do some enterprising things on your own. Since I hate the business end I'm pretty sure I'll never get a deal. It's not worth the money to send anything to a major, if they don't hear about you through the grapevine, they won't look at you. I'm not into big elaborate press kits, but i suppose its worthwhile to have something, maybe some previous press or reviews of your stuff. For my music, I've found that its a good idea to exploit the resources of my college newspaper and radio station. Rejection is not so bad, Sony/Work solicited my old band's demo and we sent off a tape with song titles,contact info. and tried to keep in touch. I still have our rejection letter. There's a lot of prestige that goes along with being rejected by a major! lzb
 
Yeah. I think I need to have a couple of rejection letters lying around. I'll frame tham and put them on my wall.! They'd sure look nice...

-jhe
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by James HE:
I bought the 1999 Songwriters market a year ago, completely intending that I waould use it and start sending out demos. Hasen't happened yet. I'm curious though, has anyone around here ever submitted anything to a label or anything? I know the basic guidelines and stuff, But if anyone has had any experience with it, maybe you could let us know how it went and what you would do diiferent if you were to do it again and just any other advise...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Most people are pretty cool about taking demos, but make sure you call first.

Once you do send the demo, make sure you follow up!

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Email biz101@kathoderaymusic.com for a free music promotion course.
 
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