JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Industry Message Forum Demo quality

I agree Marc.....Back to Demos....As a perfectionist whenever I record anything (except for the odd rough work-tape used just to get an idea over) I want to do the best job I can. This is more for my benefit and self esteem rather than for anyone else listening or any future prospective buyers. As you say however you never know who might take a listen to any demo you produce both now and in the future so everything you produce should be a calling card showing off your best side.
I know that a lot of people cannot produce their own demos and rely on others or pay demo studios to produce a demo for them. In that scenario you pays your money and takes your chance but if seriously pitching a demo to anyone you must make sure that the demo is up to the standard required.
The studio that I use has a philosophy that they do the best job they can on everything no matter what it is and nothing leaves or is considered finished till it is up to that standard. They will go the extra mile even unpaid to get things to that standard. When reputations are at stake you cannot take shortcuts or adopt a "Oh that will do" attitude. It takes a long time to build up a reputation but seconds to ruin it.

Demos have been heavy on my mind lately. And two things have happened in the past week that have me looking at them anew. One was hearing the acapella radio rendition of a singer's release described in post #799172 - 02/25/10 11:59 PM.

The other were two different demos of the same song by two cowriters. I was really shocked at the difference. One was much more like a recording that would be released. Better vocal, better playing, easier to follow rhythm, etc. The song was the same but there was a difference in how they sounded. Consequently, to my ears, the one with better production sounded much better. Almost to the point of being a different song.

That is the whole point of a demo being the best it can be. Producers want to hear how a song WILL sound. Gone are the days when they heard beyond the rough demo to what a song could sound like. Most demos pitched are as good and radio ready as the finished article. Sending out anything less minimizes any chance of a cut.
It does not matter whether it is a capella or a full orchestra production the rules are the same. The song must be produced to the best standard it can be in every way. IMO it is probably harder to send a simple a capella version than a full production as when it comes to bare vocals there is nothing to hide behind. The performance, recording and production must be top notch.

Quality matters in everything. Songs are like anything else in this regard.

Tom

Perhaps the larger truth here, brought forward by Marc and others is that demo quality is just one part of the issue - the issue really being the entire arena of getting a song recorded by an artist. To have any kind of a realistic chance, one has to cover all the bases, killer song, fine quality demo, personal contacts, persistence.


Tom

What Marc wrote quoted above is not opinion it is "fact"

Also consider this, The first thing you really need to understand is the "game" your playing. When you watch movies you often think about the story, the visual perhaps, the actors in it, and the director and maybe the writers, for a while until they convince you and draw you in.

How often do you think about the people who go out and find ALL the props that go into all the scenes of a movie? Or the editors?
Or the sound people? or the casting company or the costume crew? Or the producers & executive producers who pay out investors?
Etc..etc etc... It's endless! Look at all it takes to make that magic happen.

NOW, here you are with "your music" no matter what your position is or how many hats you wear or don't wear, It's ALL on you! You still have to deal with all of it on some level.

You DON"T have to follow every or any rules but you should darn well know what the TREND seems to be, forget seems to, what the trends ARE!

Once you are clued in then making decisions and moves become much clearer therefore a bit easier at least on the thinking stage. Then you start to think financially.

Your demo or recording or call it YOUR final product is your MOVIE. When you start out usually YOU are the only one involved in it. Then you take it from there. It's all an investment. Either you invest your time & money by doing it all yourself or you hire others or you combo. But either way there is NO WAY around the investment unless you are just very very lucky very very quickly

You have to think like the writer, executive producer (investors)
the director, all technical crews, marketing and sometimes even the actor if you are "the artist" self promoting. Oh yeah and ALL there agents and managers too!

Hello--

For what it's worth!

Nashville music is down 28%--That's bad!

Can I dance to that song? Can I relate to the story? Could be a hit!

Is the melody simple catchy aimed at the younger crowd, middle or older.

It all boils down to money--return on investment. There's little production
for mid and older buyers (they have money too)

Songs tend to sound the same--even half the intros and riffs come around again.

Whatever happened to idea of starting with a great song and making that song exceptional--the creme! Instead of building an OK song doing so much plastic surgery--the writer says, "Is that my song"?

Solo and co-writing both work--JMHO--too many co-writers take the soul out of a song--if it had some to begin with.

Just some things to ponder.

Mackie

I agree. I'd also add that two songwriters can be too many and one alone or two dozen not enough.

Mackie,

While technically you may be right, market share for country is increasing, not decreasing. Music and all entertainment, software, etc. are down because of file sharing and free giveaways. And it is in all markets.

The problem that all songwriters have is that they generally are not the market. For instance, older people do have money too, but they tend to make more individual decisions what to do with it and actually are busy spending it on paying bills, retirement plans, etc. than younger people, who spend it more in a purchasing "block." So they are more likely to make a bigger impact.

The point of co-writing, in addition to learning more about the craft, dealing with the real problems we all encounter,is just one of the methods of writing. Many people still solo write.
Not saying not to. But if you are trying to interact with the industrym any industry, the better connection you have to that industry, propritary interest (Having an artist personally invested in a song) the better the demos, the better your overall chances are in interacting with that industry.

MAB