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Anyone heard of or had experience with them? I know there are a lot of folks out there you got to be careful of. thanks- Keye

Keye -

try using the search function and put the name in. I'm sure they've been discussed here before.

Thanks Marty. I did just that. and I found out, by what folks have said, what I suspected. A bunch of BS. (excuse my french) I write the lyrics and melodies (but can't write music or sing well enough) I really wish I knew a legit way to have a demo made and find someone to peddle them for me. Does ANYONE have any suggestions of how to get your foot in the door? Thanks -Keye

Back slowly away!!
I was approched by them and kept a conversation going with the president and his assistant for about two months via e-mail untill I found out what they are really about. They claim to be publisher/ demo service but they want you to give them 15% of any royalties and syill you have to split 50/50 with the publisher plus they want 200 to 500 dollars to record a demo. I could not find them listed as publishers with all of my resorces. If they arent honest then I would say It is a scam!!

To get a foot in the door.
1. find someone with musical ability to either work with you as a co-writer 50/50 or hire someone to demo your song on a for hire basis. Tigar Bell (Ricky Van Sheltons Band Member) out of Nashville has this service. He is honest and does a very good job on a for hire basis.
2After you have a good demo, get the book "Songwriters resorces" from your local libarary. Every ligit publisher is listed along with the type of songs the specialize in and the contact information. Follow the instructions in the book very carefully.Its simple once you have something to send them.
The toughest part is getting everything ready. Its going to cost a little. How much depends on how well you do your demo.

The book will explain the rest!!
Good luck

Rob

Thank you Rob! I'd rather back QUICKLY away! I don't want snakebit!! I will explore that book asap. I saw you refer it to someone else I think. My very 1st hurdle is getting a demo done, I mean I have zero contacts and no idea how to find them. Thanks for your info! -Keye

Rob, I also saw some folks mention beaird music group. I went to their website and found out a lot of info. Do have any experience with them?
Thanks -Keye

Keye, I gave you the wrong name of the book it is "SONGWRITERS MARKET"
I have no information on bearid music, maybe someone else can answer that question.

You will find a lot of information in "Songwriters Market". also another good book is "Songwriting for Dummies" Dont let the title fool you. It was written by a very successful songwriter, I forget the name but he wrote "Eye Of The Tiger" among other hits.The book full of great infomation from the basics of songwriting to the business end os the spectrum.
My small town library has several books on songwriting so I'm sure you will have no problem finding them.

Rob

[This message has been edited by palidin (edited 10-09-2004).]

Hello Keye,

Robs right on it...."Songwriters Market" is one of the best resources that I've found for marketing your work. Also check out http://www.rowfax.com .

I've heard good things about the hot sheets that are offered there (for a fee) but have had no personal experience with them.

As far as demos go, I offer a "work for hire" demo service that's extremely inexpensive. Your welcome to check out my work and pricing at http://www.soundclick.com/ericharris . I have many references available.

Take care
Eric

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"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got"

I was under the impression, from other threads on this board, that it was a waste of postage, time, and CDs to mail demos to publishers. Has anybody had any sucess going this route ?

Beatgirle\s,
It is a good idea to contact the publishers first and ask if they are accepting submissions. Some don't accept un-solicited material. Some do.

Rob

Hi Keye

you say you write melodies as well as lyrics, and are basically looking for a professional demo service to complete the task/? I've used Brush Hill Studios out of Nashville, and I loved the finished product.

Kaley and I had the song "Because We Are" made by Brush Hill; Kaley provided them with a melody and a simply sang version and they took it from there, Here's a link where you can listen to because we are and judge for yourself

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/wri...;bandid=26932&bandnamesave=shaggydog



[This message has been edited by sweetjoyce (edited 10-10-2004).]

What are folks' opinions regarding how "professional" the demo should be in order to be noticed/considered by a publisher ?

Excellent Question

It is written that music industry professional person(s) can hear a demo and no matter how [raw] or [super-slick] the production be able to determine if it is usable/desireable or not...

A super-slick produced demo may even dishearten/frustrate a pro-singer that can not make a better presentation of it for release...just a thought anyway

Whenever I listen to demos I prefer anything from an okay radio release or better... translated- it is overall fatiguing to listen to demos... if the vocalist is grating my nerves for 3 to 4 minutes it is possible for my mind not to recognize a song with potential... return it, file it, trash it, forget about it... [pass on it]

Truth is I like a lyric sheet to brief also... big personal pet peeve- not being able to clearly hear/understand the words

Hope this info helps in someway shape or form...



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"digging deep in the verbal sludge of society, for the gems of interest"

Story time...

Not too long ago got this 3 song cd demo in the mail... put it in the cd player started to listen... wow! Sound, everything was great! Not just the first song but all 3... Listened countless times... thought if all demos sounded this great it would be really hard to decide which ones to get involved with...

Had the demo in a multi cd player in rotation with other pro-releases... people would stop by my office to discuss other matters... I would watch their reactions when this demo cd would come on to play... one person thought it was a new release by a famous artist who has had hits over the last 3 decades... Not one person ever had anything negative to say about it... only good positive things... that speaks for itself

As producer George Martin would exclaim, "all you need is ears"... Paraphrasing, "all you need is love"...

Now if those lyrics were posted to this site... other writers would have a field day with statements like... 1."it's too wordy"... 2."the songs are too long for radio air play"... 3.on and on etc. etc.

Needless to say the indie artist is doing a brisk business selling cds, and building a larger fan base as we speak.

The point is two-fold:
What was it said about first impressions?
If it is worth doing, is it not worth doing well?

As for expense...
After giving a guy some good advise the man asked me "okay where do you want me to send the money?"... told him to "send his money where ever he wanted to"...

Then I said "no" the only advise about money I offer to the world is this:

No matter if you are enjoying a midnight snack... or conquering the world it always remains the same...

"Get the most bang for your buck"

Not to say dump a ton of money into it to make it right...

Who knows, maybe said too much already!



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"digging deep in the verbal sludge of society, for the gems of interest"

Hi Sharpe Lurker:

It sounds like you are a publisher,is this true?If you are,are you open to reviewing outside material?

No more of a music hobbyist at this time.

In the future if things pick up better I am interested in starting a publishing catalogue... Just not ready at this time... Much to be learned... a worthy track record to be established... on and on, etc. etc.

Hope this information helps.



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"digging deep in the verbal sludge of society, for the gems of interest"

hello,

yep, avoid NSS and companies like them,

you asked about Beaird
Beaird is a demo studio, Larry Beaird is an A list session guitarist whose name you will see on major label CD's

Beaird's work is very good but a little pricey for my taste. They've done a couple demos for my cowriters.

By the way i'm very happy with demos from

Galen Breen at
www.thegatorhole.com

and

Denny Martin at
www.dennymartinmusic.com

I've been using both for years.

if you drop by

http://songramp.com/ande
if you click on the songs

I've written the name of the producer and vocalist on each of my songs.

Have a listen and decide
how good you want your demos to sound.

If you're hoping to compete for cuts, your songs need to be tight and sound like they were written by professional songwriters.

ande rasmussen






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Ande Rasmussen
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Editor Of "Inspirations for Songwriters"
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i would say if you are blindly mailing your demos to major publishing companies you probably are wasting your time. BUT if you've had a proper introduction, or the publisher is willing to consider unsolicited songs you might not be wasting your time.

I would say that most successful publishing companies that have major label cuts and their own staff writers aren't real interested in hearing unsolicited songs.

Now if you've managed to get a major label cut and your publishing is open, i'm sure many publishing companies would be very willing to talk with you, hear your songs, and sign that song. But at that point you might not need them.

good luck

ande
www.AndeRasmussen.com





------------------
Ande Rasmussen
AndeRasmussen@aol.com
http://www.AndeRasmussen.com
http://songramp.com/ande
http://www.soundclick.com/anders
http://www.MySpace.com/anders

Editor Of "Inspirations for Songwriters"
Message archive:
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Beat girls,

you asked:


my answers are
it depends on the publisher
Many publishers are willing to listen bare bone songs. If they think the song is really great they might offer to sign it and redemo it. If they like you and think the song has potential they might give you some rewrite tips and ask you to rewrite it and let them listen again. Jason Blume tells a story of how he rewrote one of his early country songs 7 times.

If the publisher is going to pitch the song to artists and producers, they might feel better with a radio ready HIT demo.

But many songs have gotten cut with just simple guitar vocal demos. "Bring on the Rain" is one.

My take is I'd rather not spend to demo a song until I feel it is really ready and totally worth it. Lately I've been cowriting with writers who create really excellent home recordings.

I believe you can
hide a great song with bad production
but you can't
disguise a bad song with great production.

good luck,

ande

------------------
Ande Rasmussen
AndeRasmussen@aol.com
http://www.AndeRasmussen.com
http://songramp.com/ande
http://www.soundclick.com/anders
http://www.MySpace.com/anders

Editor Of "Inspirations for Songwriters"
Message archive:
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SEND an EMPTY email to:
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Ande,

Thanks for your reply to my question.

I've certainly never heard of this happening. However, I have heard plenty of stories about demos that ended up being finals (usually with new lead vocals on them). Christina Aguilera's "What a Girl Wants" was this way.

However, as someone who does produce and arrange a lot for unsigned artists, it seems to me that most people who listen to a demo will not have the musical imagination to hear in their head what a song will sound like once fully produced.

While a great song MAY get picked up from a simple guitar/voice demo, it seems to me that some creative producing and arranging would make a song stand out from the hundreds that cross someone's desk every day.

Of course, this may be less true for some genres than others. A simple recording will work for Norah Jones, but can you imagine a piano/voice version of Usher's "Yeah" selling very well?

Dave Hab
www.DaveHab.com