Brian Zimmerman is the latest addition to the imaginePR team. A recent graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University, he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing with University honors and now focuses his efforts on the music industry. He has listened to hundreds of demo CDs while reviewing local music for WRIR 97.3, Richmond’s Independent Radio, and believes that artists should be educated on the little details that can make their demo go a long way. As a result, Brian has put together the following tip sheet for musicians:
What is a demo?
A demo is not quite a full on master, but it will give your audience an idea of what you sound like on a professional recording. “Demo” is short for “demonstration recording,” and will often be how you make your first impression to A&R reps, venue bookers, managers, etc. Record companies and venues alike listen to demos to help them decide whether or not they want you for a record deal or gig. Below are a few pointers on how to make a quality demo.
Tip One – Know Your Listeners
First of all, know your audience. Are you sending this demo to record companies in the hope of getting a record deal, or to local venues in the hope of booking some gigs? If you are sending out demos to record companies, know what types of artists they have signed and what their sound is. If the signed artists play music from the opposite side of the spectrum compared to your band, than you may be looking at the wrong label. Make sure that your sound fits the label’s repertoire.
Similarly, when sending your demo to venues you want to make sure that your sound fits their ambiance. Otherwise, you may be wasting time and money sending demos to people who will probably not want to book your band. Also, many bands will record their demos live so that venues can hear what they will sound like outside the studio. This tactic is beneficial, especially if you have a crowd of people cheering you on in the background!
Tip Two - Pick Your Best Songs
Always pick the best song from your band’s repertoire, the ones that you feel encompasses the band’s overall sound. While they may not be your most popular songs, you need to identify the tracks that have the best performance, singing, chorus, song structure, etc. and put those on the demo. You may even want to ask someone else in the industry beside yourself to help identify what songs are truly your best.
Also, it is a good idea to keep the number of tracks down to 2 or 3 tracks maximum. This is because many record companies have track limits regarding the demos they will listen to; and frankly no one is going to sit and listen to a ridiculously long demo. Lastly, it is always a good idea to make sure that all of your songs are copyrighted before sending out your demos.
Tip Three – Dress It Up
Seriously consider making a nice quality CD cover and jacket for your demo CD. This is a great way to artistically display your band’s “brand,” and it will definitely look better than a blank CD in an empty jewel case. This may sound expensive, but considering the fact you should only need a small number of demos to send to local venues/labels/etc., you should consider investing in software that enables you to customize and print CD covers/jackets from your home printer. With the prominence of MP3s today, you may even want to consider purchasing custom flash drives to upload your demo onto. That is just another way to jazz up your demo and make it stand out.
Tip Four – Contact Info
This seems pretty simple, but you will always want to make sure that you have all of your contact information physically attached to the demo, not just the jacket. The easiest way to achieve this would be a sticker on the demo with your contact info. That way, if your demo CD gets separated from its original case, which it most likely will, there will be no questions as to who the band is and how you can contact them. If you go with the above mentioned flash drive route, you will want to make a document on the flash drive with your full contact information as well.
Tip Five – Quality Sound
While the quality of the songs should come first, the quality of your demo’s sound is also important. That is why you need to spend some time thinking about how you want to record your demo. Recording in a recording studio is very expensive. However, considering the fact that your demo will have a limited number of tracks, it may be worth the money to record with professional equipment and engineers. If money is tight, you can find home studio recording software to record with as a cheaper alternative option. While home studio recording software is less expensive than studio time, you may want to consider taking your home recorded demo to a professional engineer and have him master the tracks for you to get the best possible sound quality you can.