5 Recommendations That Can Get Your Demos Played and Noticed by Recording Industry Professionals.

Song demos are your business card to music producers, song writers and other music industry insiders. A good demo could possibly result in getting those special gigs on weekend nights or possibly sparking some interest from an A&R rep. 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 little attendance in the club or worst yet being snubbed 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.

Put your best song on the demo first. Most people in the music business are very busy and if the first song on your demo doesn’t get their attention it is quite unlikely that they will hear the rest of your CD.

Limit your demo to three to six songs. For the same reasons as above, music industry professionals can be very busy with limited time to give a good listen to your songs. 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 can get separated from the jacket the listener may not go to the trouble of trying to locate the CD jacket to find your contact info. Prevent any possible problems by having your contact info in both places.

Just like the songwriting quality needs to be the best it can be, your recording quality needs to be of great quality as well. 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.

Don’t Shotgun your demo CD. Shotgunning is distributing your CD to hundreds of industry people without determining what types of music that they work with or if they accept unsolicited submissions. When you check out the labels check out other artist that are on that label and compare their music to yours. A label that puts out rock albums may not be interested in a country act. The best thing you can do is to send a letter introducing your act and that you would like to submit a sample demo 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 recommendations will pave the way toward having your songwriting, heard by those who need to know you and your music.