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#933048 - 11/17/11 02:54 PM
Demo quality important to plug songs?
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Harrogate
Casual Observer
Registered: 11/17/11
Posts: 5
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Hello all, I'm a newbie here. I'm normally a performer (vocals & guitar in an alt-country band), but I am hoping to submit a couple of songs I wrote to a country artist. My question is this: Does the quality of the demo matter? I don't have the money, and my band doesn't have the time, to make pro-level recordings of these songs...but I do have the resources to make a quality sounding acoustic guitar/vocal only track. Is that acceptable, or do they prefer a full band version? Thanks for any advice.
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#933049 - 11/17/11 04:00 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Harrogate]
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Kevin Emmrich
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 02/24/07
Posts: 8632
Loc: Crozet, VA
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This is really an on-going question here. Most of the "connected" folks here think that you have to have to full blown demo created by a good Nashville studio in order to compete. However, if the song is really great maybe an excellent guitars/bass/vocals home demo might work. (Of course, most think that your chances of getting a cut from an established artist are somewhere between zero and 0).
The keys are a) why would they even listen to your song?, b) how great is the song? and c) what is your competition sending in?
Good luck and welcome to the JPF!
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#933051 - 11/17/11 04:04 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Kevin Emmrich]
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Mike Dunbar
JPF Mentor
Registered: 04/13/01
Posts: 8203
Loc: Nashville Tennessee
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The quality is very important, however, the number of musicians or amount of money you spend on it are not at all related to quality.
_________________________
Anybody who’s made it will tell you, you can make it. Anyone who hasn’t made it will tell you, you can’t -John Mayer Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure. -Earl Wilson It's only music. -niteshift Mike Dunbar Music
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#933062 - 11/17/11 05:36 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Mike Dunbar]
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aussieshayne1975
Serious Contributor
Registered: 11/15/11
Posts: 71
Loc: Canberra, A.C.T. Australia
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From my experience this year with demos, having started off with demos that WEREN'T radio ready, though cheaper to get done they pretty much got me nowhere, though I received a comment that the quality was still good from someone in the industry. The vocals WEREN'T up to scratch, however. Since contact with an A&R guy who actually took the time to steer me in the right direction, I have only had radio ready demos done, which you can hear uploaded on the starnow site link below. The difference response wise has been huge. I have had some artists & A&R's considering my songs & asking for more material in future. So, to be honest, I would say radio ready demos are the standard, but DON'T spend a fortune getting them done!
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#933090 - 11/18/11 04:22 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: aussieshayne1975]
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the songcabinet
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 12/01/08
Posts: 3390
Loc: Denmark
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I'm with Mike, numbers of players, instruments ect. doesn't say anything about quality. However, it has to make an impact, and you need to do what it takes for that to happen.
If the writing is really great and original, you can get away with much simpler things. If it's just another 16bar turnaround playing on some added clever hompohones, you need to provide instrumental and production hooks to go with it.
It's usually very hard to make an impact without a full band arrangement, these days. A&R expects recordings, not demos. Nobody really does demos anymore. They record the song, and try to exploit that recording to the fullest. So the simple answer is definitely, they expect full recordings (not really "demos").
Sometimes the best it can do is to be recorded by someone else through a publisher, producer or a&r, sometimes it can hold it's own to make a tv/film/commercial slot. Most of the times it works in your portfolio among other songs, as an example of what you can do, if someone should ever need a writer.
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#933091 - 11/18/11 04:46 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Harrogate]
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Mike Caro Substudio
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 04/24/05
Posts: 7782
Loc: NY
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Hi,
Yes this is an old and very valid question,
Answer is very simple... YES it's very important and EVERYTHING matters.
I'm the last person to try not too be over harsh but you see what you said about the band doesn't have the time? I would have walked away from that band the minute I knew that. Or kicked anyone out who didn't.
If your really really serious and your career really really matters then you make the time and you find the money. You achieve this by giving up or putting aside EVERYTHING else in life. For bands that starts with drinking,smoking and girlfriends 
That's what your competition is doing or should be doing.
All the best
Mike
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#933097 - 11/18/11 05:52 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Mike Caro Substudio]
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JamesDF5
Serious Contributor
Registered: 12/10/09
Posts: 341
Loc: London UK
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For song plugging you need it to be pretty much the final release quality of the song for most publishers to even listen to it.
If you have bad vocals or poor sound quality you won't even get through the door.
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#933623 - 11/22/11 06:03 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: JamesDF5]
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BIG JIM MERRILEES
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 8077
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland. UK
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This is an old chestnut......my take is simple...anything you produce represents you and your standards...so if you produce an iffy demo then chances are you will be branded as an iffy writer.....It is the devils own job to get something listened to so it would be a HUGE shame to have something thrown out because you were not up to the standards of the competition...so do yourself a favour and make absolutely every thing you produce sound as good as you can get it....if you do not set the bar high then you will never get far......you can bet the opposition set very high standards.
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#933686 - 11/23/11 11:36 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: BIG JIM MERRILEES]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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This doesn't change anything -- yet -- about this controversy but the reason you must do a radio ready version is because people are stupid. The lyric/story isn't important, it's all about the show, about marketing, about cross-platform commercialism.
You need the big "horn-section" because there is nothing else to the song. Screaming "singers", all the vocal gymnastics are like lead guitarists who don't know when to stop!
Annnnnnnd, it's about recording equipment that any school kid can get his Mummy and Daddy to buy...there is more money than talent and sense in the world now. You don't need talent to be a huge star! It's obvious. You have protools and pitch correction and pull-down menus of guitars, and bass, and horns, and beats, and whatever.
And with all that, it's still mostly shite out there.
I remember a time when all you had to do was have a great song and a cassette tape.
Standards aren't the issue, that is your personal standards are not issue when it comes to radio-ready demos. It's how much money you have available to recording; after all we need to pay rent, eat, put petrol in the bloody car.
As the good and great songwriting gets pushed even deeper into the internet -- since that seems the only place you're likely to hear anything of substance in music anymore -- breaking through will be even more difficult...A&R is just two letters leftover from the days of real, interesting, exciting, mind-expanding, thought provoking music. When the A&R people where more likely than not either musicians, or had such a love for music they knew where it rested, in the lyrics and the arrangement. Now, if it doesn't sound like something the tin-eared wnakers are used to hearing on the Clearchannels, then they have no idea what to do about it, except to toss it out.
It's all crap, sodden crap! It's bubble gum for you ears and that space where a mind used to be.
To everyone on here from Scotland: If'n it's no Scottish, IT'S CRAP! Hahahaha. Mike Myers.
Seriously, though I'm currently Living in Tallahasse, Florida, I'm originally from Unst, Shetlands! Good Day to everyone.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933689 - 11/23/11 11:43 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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niteshift
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 12/17/06
Posts: 4053
Loc: Sydney, Australia
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Hey Toxic,
Did you have something to say ? 
Umm,..... yeah,.....welcome...... and um,..... hmmmm..... *shrugs* 
cheers, niteshift
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#933696 - 11/23/11 12:24 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: niteshift]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Niteshift,
I'm such a wallflower.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933702 - 11/23/11 01:14 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Ray E. Strode
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/22/01
Posts: 4540
Loc: Brunswick, Ga. USA
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Uh,
Wouldn't it be something if a bunch of us could get in a room and play a bunch of demos and select some that were good enough to pitch. I have had requests for more songs from just my own guitar/vocal demos. So if the song isn't there a super demo won't sell it. Of course if you can't sing or play an instrument have a basic demo made but don't break the bank.
_________________________
Ray E. Strode
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#933722 - 11/23/11 03:07 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Ray E. Strode]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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I once was a member of NASI as well as Taxi. Both are worthless when it comes to "art", real songs.
Now some, many like to poo poo -- where did that come from by the by -- ART. Well alright, then don't call these people ARTISTS. I mean, I've heard tin-eared-morons, who know more about Lady Gag-me and Brad Pitt and Jolie, (et al) than they do about their own Lives, their own families, give me a pile of shite about calling "singer/songwriter/americana (et al) art, but will call Lady Gag-me, or Rhiannon -- I don't know how they spell these names, and I don't care too, I Life and it's filled with Art -- someone like that "vocal artists"! WHAT!?! Where would, let's think of a song, ahh, where would Beat It be without Eddie Van Halen? But Michael Jackson is a vocal artist/artist, but Eddie is just a rock guitar player. Huh!?!
My point here is that NSAI STILL uses some cockamayme slogan, something like: "It All Starts With A Song", or something like that and all they care about are MEGA HITS. Tell me, do you REALLY, HONESTLY believe that "God Bless Texas" is a more well written, a better composed, better sung, more interesting song than Townes Van Zants: "Poncho and Lefty"? REALLY?
Of the two songs listed above, which one was covered more? I don't think units sold means anything to do with how great a song is. It's how many people want to cover it. That seems to indicate respect. Yet Lady Gag-me (et al) have more money than God!
So, on my next business plan I'm going to make certain that I list that I will wear a meat suit while writing vapid words that we'll call lyrics...with help from an army of ghostwriters payed for by the label...I'll not wear underwear, will make certain to be as stupidly unoriginal...
Taxi, though not interested in changing music at all, they are right nice people. They don't have any motto, except maybe: "Show Me The Money"...NSAI reviewer had the never to tell me that my song was all over the map. A song that other people have covered, and I made money from -- I'm a BMI member.
It's weird. Ears are flat, imagination has been schooled and MTV'd out of the consumer...remember, the "60's" when POP MUSIC was The Beatles, Jeff Beck...everything, now Clearchannel has destroyed real music.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933723 - 11/23/11 03:40 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Kevin Emmrich
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 02/24/07
Posts: 8632
Loc: Crozet, VA
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LOL! You share a lot of the same philosophies as our other Scottish brother -- Big Jim Merrilees
Preach on, brother.
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#933726 - 11/23/11 04:26 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Kevin Emmrich]
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Ray E. Strode
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/22/01
Posts: 4540
Loc: Brunswick, Ga. USA
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Well Toxic Mess,
You have pretty well summed up what I have been reading about the "Great" music, on the radio over the last 20 years. We have talked about it here from time to time. Does anyone listen to the radio anymore?
_________________________
Ray E. Strode
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#933735 - 11/23/11 06:13 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Kevin Emmrich]
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Mike Caro Substudio
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 04/24/05
Posts: 7782
Loc: NY
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Actually what Big Jim last said was spot on. I have been saying it for 30 years but sometimes people wont accept such a short answer.
Your demo or recording represents YOU & your WORK. Period! So how important are you and your work?
To write a great story on toilet paper then hand it to someone and say "LOOK past the toilet paper" is foolish.
And contemporary music is something you NEVER read first..
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#933744 - 11/23/11 07:36 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Mike Caro Substudio]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Mike,
I hear what you're saying, and it is the most valid point of all, BUT just about EVERY now iconic song since recording went from wax to tape has had its birth from some simple tape recording set up in someones bedroom (et al) with just their instrument and voice...
Which brings us back to the crux of one of the WHY'S music has had all the Art taken out of it, replaced by canned stuff that is now being taken as manna. Now we all know that canned tomatoes don't taste the same as fresh; music has become the business of music, not the music business; which is to say: music has become a cartoon of itself.
Because the equipment Robert Johnson was recorded on, though the most professional equipment of its time, today something of that quality would not get a listen. Why? Because it doesn't SOUND like "right". All of his brilliance would have been lost.
Elite-ism, widget-tizing Art; Andy Warhalling...who can't do that?
Everything is bar-coded into some "investors" bank.
Even with crappy bar bands, the conversation is: product. That's how were are being commercalized into seeing the world, a bag of money to play in. Screw tradition...
A measure of music that is repeated anywhere in a song is now protooled to death. The last time I was in a studio the dude just had me play the bits that would be repeated once then he would just copy and paste them where they were needed. Hit a wrong note, a little pitchey, no problem, we just press this button -- whirr, wizz, sputter, splat -- and everything is right with the world.
Would anyone call paint by the numbers pictures Art? Don't really think so.
I'm thinking of Charles Bukowski. He sent in his first manuscript longhand and on bits of paper and such. Never, EVER would it happen now! Too many nits out there who think they are more brilliant than ten men and a boy. So publishers (et al) have installed gatekeepers to keep the pile of less crappy crap down.
Just think, people who take a little light pen, press it on an image, drag it to a certain predetermined spot on a computer screen, drop it in there, BANG! They are being called an Artist now!
I've heard these "bands" of the protools era, and Live they SUCK! Unless they have their armies of tecks with their pitch-correcting, melody mimicing machines of mass destruction.
And it all starts with a radio-ready demo. A demo, by definition is ONLY an idea of the idea. A demo is NOT meant to be the final deal.
So, if you don't have the money to waste on your Art -- we assume it's Art -- then you don't get heard, but some twit with more money than sense, makes a deal with some record company, puts up all the money, BANG they're on some radio someplace...BECAUSE the Art of Music has become a widget, and any good business wants to buy low and sell way, way high.
Music has made governments end wars, toppled evil kings and such like. Now, not so much.
Things don't change until they change. And change never can happen unless people attempt a change. And to change things you must have options. If you see no options then what does change have to do with it; change to what if there is nothing to change to?
I figure that the most direct way to break through the gates is to not try to go through them. Instead, befriend a record pres. Or with someone who knows someone in the biz. We used to do that. You'd play at a club, or clubs and there is a buzz. Now, with a viral video on Youtube you could become an overnight flash in the pan! But you could get very rich as well. It happens in an instant. Bruce Springsteen has the greatest bar band in the world, and when you see them Live, F&%K ME! Them dudes can play! They know how to entertain people because they are use to doing it every night with a room full of drunks! And they sing and play it themselves.
What did Springsteen's demo sound like? Probably just him and a guitar is all the exec's heard.
By the by, that is a right nice looking studio you have there.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933745 - 11/23/11 07:38 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Kevin,
That fellow you speak of, he's the guy from Edinburgh? What a lovely town. Or it used to be. I haven't been there in a long while.
And "make every word count" is exactly right.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933747 - 11/23/11 07:41 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Ray,
"Does anyone listen to the radio anymore?" I ask myself that all the time. Remember, as a kid, you're parents would be hacking on you, and you can't figure out the math problem, and who cares about what baking soda and vinegar do...CLICK, there went the radio and you could be happy in an instant. Now, all the bands sound the same. They all say the same things, whatever that is. I love Eddie Van Halen, and I'm a rock guy, but give me a Doc Watson lick any day. He and those like him can do THAT with just a box of wood and some strings! Man, now that's amazing.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933749 - 11/23/11 07:53 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Kevin Emmrich
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 02/24/07
Posts: 8632
Loc: Crozet, VA
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I still listen to the radio when I am driving around. One or two country stations, an alternative rock station and some more "pop" stations when my daughter is in the car (although she will listen to country)!
The only real difference between then and now -- you have to listen to six stations today to get the same variety and mix that you got back in the 60's and 70's. There are still a lot of great artists today.
Kevin
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#933751 - 11/23/11 08:07 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Kevin Emmrich]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Kevin,
The funny thing about country radio. All the "new" stars love to do their shout outs to the "old guard", yet the "old guard" are still making music, but none of those stations play them.
Yeah, six stations at least. That's the only thing a remote is good for!
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933752 - 11/23/11 09:04 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Mike Caro Substudio
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 04/24/05
Posts: 7782
Loc: NY
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Mike,
What did Springsteen's demo sound like? Probably just him and a guitar is all the exec's heard.
By the by, that is a right nice looking studio you have there.
Hi Thanks.
I'll ask that question to his former manager and co-producer of Born To Run next week when he's here at my house.
Actually he told me the story of how he and Bruce went to Clive's office with the acoustic guitar only.
But back then a recorder even at home was $$$$$ so this demo thing was not an issue at all.
Today everyone knows including the industry people that we ALL have computers at home capable of very good sounding results.
What people forget is that has NOTHING to do with being a good or great musician, producer or a recording engineer.
We aren't really talking about the quality of the songs or today's artists or bands, but more focusing on the representation of your material. That material is based on SOUND.
So it should sound as GREAT as you can make it sound to your best of knowledge and savy and your budget.
Do the best we can....
For me that involved spending a lifetimes savings and earnings on equipment! And I still don't have anything.
Thanks
Mike
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#933753 - 11/23/11 09:16 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Mike Caro Substudio]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Mike,
I saw that HBO special on the making of Springsteen's Born To Run. So interesting. The studio is a great place for creation. Or at least I think it is.
I absolutely hate to fool with anything on the other side of that window. You can have all the knobs, and shifters, and whatever else you guys have hidden behind that huge console. I'm only interested in the songwriting and performing side of things.
I know my weaknesses and strengths. I figure if there's someone who loves fooling with those knobs and they're good at it, well let the boy go and do his thing!
My first reel-to-reel was a Teak I bought in Hong Kong. It was a beauty. My band and I used that puppy...well, until cassettes came along. They were expensive, but nothing like an Apple...
Hey, since I have you on the line. Is Garage Band really any good?
Dude, thanks for all your insight. Really. You guys in the recording booth are all Artists to me. I really hate that stuff. I'm glad you and others love it so much.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933757 - 11/23/11 11:44 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Mike Caro Substudio
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 04/24/05
Posts: 7782
Loc: NY
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Hi
I hear ya on that. yes Garage Band is a very cool thing. it's also free on every Mac so that's nice. It's really great for those who don't have recording stuff or play instruments. You can incorporate a little of both as well. But no it's no Pro Tools Nuendo or Logic etc.... by any means.
The studio is a WONDERFUL place I wish I could escape it sometimes but there's no better place to be held hostage by
I too was and am like you, I'm a serious songwriter and a musician first and foremost. I think the BIGGEST fall and drop in all of popular music today is because MUSICIANS are little too hardly involved anymore.
I used to go to lots of studio's but I was never happy with the results in many cases. I needed something at home to work with so my little tape deck porta studio turned into a bigger one then a reel to reel then to a better reel to reel a bigger mixer and so on & on...
I started to love the art of recording as much as the songwriting and the playing. So I had to learn and do alot of things, everything actually all the time. SO I have a great perspective of every chair in the place and both sides of the glass.
I'm aware of the upsides and the downsides as well of being a multi instrumentalist a songwriter a producer and a recording engineer. Oh and of course the studio owner... Total different perspective there.
But the BIG key is the love of music and the passion and love of what your doing. That is the same for EVERY single chair the drummers to the studio owners. We want the same thing, the BEST results we can get for the music, the budget and the MOMENT where in.
I just got tired of finding a place to record, so I slowly built my own studio so I can work anytime day or night.
This is VERY draining financially and mentally but I love it. I try to remain more un-technical as to not complicate things more and suck up too much time.
I was VERY committed to my music and goals,as much as one can possibly be.
Thanks
Mike
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#933768 - 11/24/11 02:17 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Mike Caro Substudio]
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16289
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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It's always interesting when people show up with a lot of strong opinions they are unwilling to place their own real name behind isn't it?
Just sayin' ...
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney 
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#933772 - 11/24/11 04:07 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Brian Austin Whitney]
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BIG JIM MERRILEES
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 8077
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland. UK
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Well we have departed from the age of live music...where to be any good and get any fame you had to be a player performer and writer of note.....nowadays thanks to reality TV any kid dragged of the streets can be a star....albeit for fifteen minutes till they drag someone else in to be a replacement....yes todays music is mainly disposable mass produced crap.....yes the public are stupid, tasteless and gullible... yes like sheep they follow their peers and buy into the hype and marketing....yes the industry is controlled by a few suits whose say is final....yes they do not really want anything clever or innovative or anything that poses as a threat to their little comfy world of karaoke type covers sung by pretty tone deaf kids.....yes we all have knobs and sliders in our own homes that yesterdays musicians could only dream of having albeit only in a top studio.....
WHY I ask?.....I am at a loss to understand why we allow ourselves to be controlled and WHY we indulge in this crap where the cream does not rise.....there is plenty of talent out there...just a shame it never seems to get any recognition or exposure.
I have said it before and will say it again...."we have been bombarded with so much crap we have come to accept it and even hail it as being something special".....I am convinced that todays youth are incapable of identifying talent or appreciating or even listening to proper music......as long as it is noise and has a beat and is considered cool they buy it....they do not have a mind of their own.....I was watching a chat show where Gaga was a guest...the audience were getting hysterical and screaming in anticipation when she was introduced....I was disgusted......no need to get that hysterical she is bad but not that bad I thought....then in she waltzed with her clothes straight out of some kids dressing up box......the audience went wild.....I just laughed.....Then the laugh changed to respect....I thought what a clever piece of hype and exhibitionism.....to get that amount of reaction when you have so little talent takes some doing......she should not be censured....instead the fans should be ashamed of themselves for being so gullible and stupid.
We can only do one of two things.....either dumb down and compete with the morons or cater for more discerning folk who DO appreciate good music.
I played one of my songs to my neighbours kid she is 21 and hangs aroud with my daughter quite a lot. Whilst she quite liked it I could see it was not her cup of tea.... however she was very impressed with the other stuff she had heard me play that day......I was puzzled what other stuff did she mean...it turns out that the "other stuff" was just me mucking about with some disco beats, loops and pre sets for a jingle I was working on.......sad to think that a simple sample with a repeat button being pressed was preferred to a song that had taken a while to write and record......
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#933802 - 11/24/11 09:36 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: BIG JIM MERRILEES]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Brian,
ToxicRose is a Real name. Would you say that Elton John is not a REAL name? His birth name might well be Reginald Kenneth Dwight, but Elton is what he wanted to be called...Just sayin'.
I'm not new by any means. I've been around for a while, just took this long to get here. Besides, when I was a mere prat of a lad this site wasn't here...the point is, no matter what "my name" is my opinions were formed from many years of Living, education, and practice.
I see that you are the founder of this site. Do you have a problem with my views? Did you wish to censor my dialogue with the community here, just like Clearchannel does with the widgets they play on all their stations? Why don't you agree with my opinions? How am I wrong?
I take offence to that narrow view: "real name"? What does that mean? Many First People here in America have a tradition that goes back to when they first became them where the Shaman or parents of the new birthed is given a name and of an age they name themselves. There is that same tradition with Picts, Britain's First People, not to mention the "stage name" of people who are performers.
You seem to be overly sensitive about it, or am I just reading that into what looks like a snide put down: "Just sayin'"?
Edited by imtoxicrose (11/24/11 09:39 AM)
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933805 - 11/24/11 09:51 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Ray E. Strode
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/22/01
Posts: 4540
Loc: Brunswick, Ga. USA
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I watched part of the CMT Awards last night. Some of it was not bad but the background music was like playing at Nigara Falls. Too noisey. I would say it was more rock than country.
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Ray E. Strode
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#933807 - 11/24/11 10:06 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Big Jim,
Man, it's spooky. We're both from Scotland and we both, well sound alike.
Hey, is Edinburgh sill the fine town I remember? The last time I was there was -- I'm embarrassed to say -- 1986. I've not been "home" home since our family left Unst in 1963. We didn't have electricity then nor indoor running water, and now my island has a web site! And things that look like roads, and cars! I don't remember those from when I was a kid; I left Unst when I was 13. I tell people all the time that I came to America with The Beatles. We weren't on that plane, but we did come the same year.
The Beatles...OHMYGOD! They changed my Life. I'm a classically trained violinist, and as you know The Shetlands have "the best fiddlers in the world". I was the odd man out in that my love was classical music. I played traditional fiddle as well, but I wanted to go to America and become a symphony conductor.
Then I heard The Beatles! Hey, they didn't play violin, nor fiddle! What!?!
Then The Who! I was at a Ceilidh here in America, not long after we arrived and there was a t.v. on. I suspect it was The Ed Sullivan Show. The Who was on. I had never heard of them before. They were playing My Generation. I was transfixed. I stood up in front of all those people there, pointed to the telly and proclaimed: "They're talking about me!"
That's the feeling I've had about music from then 'til 1975 when disco felt that lyrics were not important, that the people on the dance floor half and fully baked on coke where the story and the only reason for the story...there was no "70's", it went from the "60's" to the "80's" seemingly overnight. From the music with Soul and great lyrical content of the "60's", to an arse shaking extravaganza of: "Shake, shake, shake...shake, shake, shake...Shake your booty...Shake your booty..." From music and a movement that didn't relent until a war was ended, to an "age" where there is no soundtrack, just dumb people driving around in their SUV's texting while they're watching the latest video, driving down the road as if their cars have a mind and will of their own...From air-waves that championed the Art of music to air over-filled with hype, jargon, lies, propaganda, spin, spin, spin...Motown has now been replaced by thug rappers; rap (et al) is NOT music but SPOKEN WORD. It was the Beats who thought that writing should have the same pulse, meters that did music; should be able to read your work with a band playing.
If the world-wide-web can be subverted from a "highway" first begun as a place for scientific exchange into a delivery system for porn, then that same web can be used to bring us back to sanity.
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The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933814 - 11/24/11 10:23 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Kevin Emmrich
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 02/24/07
Posts: 8632
Loc: Crozet, VA
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... Did you wish to censor my dialogue with the community here ...?
You will not find censorship here -- unless you attack or threaten people.
I take offence to that narrow view: "real name"? What does that mean?
You will find that most people use their given names here. You are not required to do that, though.
Kevin
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#933815 - 11/24/11 10:32 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Kevin Emmrich]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Kevin,
That's great to know, but since I'm new here, and the founder of the site gives you one of those snide comments, well one tends to wonder what the ________ is going on.
I see that you're from Virginia, Kevin. I Lived there for a year. A place named Bedford. Do you know of it? The people I Lived with, the father's family began the town of Goode.
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The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933843 - 11/24/11 01:37 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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BIG JIM MERRILEES
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 8077
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland. UK
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Hey toxic yes it would seem we are pretty alike...probably down to the education....I was taught to question and to have a free will.....and not take things for granted...I was taught to think for myself and think of others and to have morals and to know right from wrong.....I was taught about politeness equality and respect including self respect....I was taught most importantly to speak my mind and be honest and expect honesty in return..I suspect in your thirteen years here you were taught similar things.....we Scots are not mean like some people think we are..... just careful about who we trust and know who is telling fibs and who is genuine....I can spot a con man or a buffoon a mile away.
I do however respect someone more when they use their real name and not hide behind a pen name or avatar.....on this forum we have had a lot of very outspoken folk and trolls who are not afraid to insult people whilst hiding behind anonymity.
On this forum we are like a family...we do not always agree with each other and sometimes we argue and occasionally folk fall out...but we are still family so we help and support each other as much as we can and argue at the same time.
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#933965 - 11/25/11 10:22 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: BIG JIM MERRILEES]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Big Jim,
Hummm, maybe you and I aren't so similar after all. If I called you Seamus I'd still be calling you James, or Jim. Where I'm from we'd most likely pronounce your name: Seamus. Doesn't change who you are.
Your a Scot. That would mean somewhere along the way you would have been called a Celt. That is a name give to Us by the Romans. That isn't our name for ourselves. We even will call ourselves Celts. And you might be even older than that; a Pict. I am a Pict. It isn't the name we called ourselves, but the Romans. We still use the name though.
I can't understand that narrow mindset. After someone tells me their "name" I always ask: "What do you like to be called?"
If I didn't like my "first" name, but one of my "middle" names was more pleasing to me, say my "name" was Bonzo David Smith. I liked to be called David. Say I wrote my "name" as B. David Smith. Would that offensive to you or anyone here?
I've given no one here any reason whatsoever to distrust me, but because my "handle" doesn't suit your ear or mind you will treat me as if I'm a criminal? That just doesn't seem like any family that I would hang with. Would you "make" P. Diddy -- or whatever he's (et al) calling himself this season Or JLO -- for Jennifer Lopez; that's her "name" right, Jennifer Lopez -- would you snarl at her for using JLO?
BMI lists me as ToxicRose. They didn't think anything of it. Or if they did they never told me about it. In fact, depending on the genera, I use a number of different "names", and they are all listed with BMI.
I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll tell you my "given" name, as I heard it for the first 13 years of my Life: Labhriunn N'Dhomhnuill; also listed on my BMI contract.
And it seems that one of the first things people here in America like to do is give you a "nickname" anyway, so what's the point of a name anyway?
If you have a problem with people being casual here, then just ignore my postings. Yeah, that's pretty simple. But I have no truck with you. You can do, think, say anything you wish, about me or to me. It makes no difference to me. I'm fine. I know who I am, no matter what.
Hey, if I called myself Bill Smith, would that be a problem? That's a name people who are doing what they're not suppose to be doing like to use.
I'm not trying to get up into anyone's grill, but you're wanking on me without cause, and where I'm from someone who does that is going to hear about it.
Maybe you should just chill, let's talk, see if I'm a wanker or not. How does that work for you?
Seamus, or Jim if you prefer, you never answered my query: Is Edinburgh still the grand town I remember?
Oh, and on Thanksgiving here I turned on some Americans to Spotted Dick and Liquorice Allsorts! They not only never had them before, but they never even heard of them before. I also got a couple of Mars bars! They have them here. I mean the ones from Home, not the overly sweet one they have here.
Oh, you'd get a giggle out of this, Big Jim -- you might should I think -- my rock band is called: Glasgow Kiss. I'm sure you know what a Glasgow Kiss is.
Are we good then?
Supper!
Cheers!
Edited by imtoxicrose (11/25/11 10:31 PM)
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#933990 - 11/26/11 06:03 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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BIG JIM MERRILEES
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 8077
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland. UK
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Toxic you miss the point.....You can call yourself what you want......you can change your given name by deed poll if you desire.....I do not have a problem with that....All I am saying is that I prefer it when folk use their given name or the name they are most commonly known by......there is something a tad suspicious and impersonal about someone using just an avatar or made up nickname. Do your workmates and friends call you Toxic and is that the name on any bank statements or mail you have delivered?.... I doubt it.
Now my name is Jim...very common name....there are loads of Jims....Heck my dad was Jim and so was my uncle and I played bowls with another three Jims in a team of four so we had to have a way of distinguishing which was which and who was who so we either had a nickname or used our surnames....Hence I became Big Jim....cause I am six and a half feet tall......but I am not afraid to say who I really am.
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#934004 - 11/26/11 09:11 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: BIG JIM MERRILEES]
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Moker Jarrett
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/26/06
Posts: 4426
Loc: jacksonville, fl
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Songs that are a work in progress are one thing...songs you are pitching in hopes of getting a placement or a cut are another...when you are pitching to get that commercial cut it is best to realize that you are competing with the best of the best. Many of their track records show they are among the best, and that is not by accident...they write very well,they pay attention to detail,many of their demos are as good as or better than the cut they end up getting...like it or not, that is your competition...I venture to say most demos that are poorly done don't reach the 15 second mark in a listening session. Put your best foot forward(pun intended Mike) and keep doing it.
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#934020 - 11/26/11 11:21 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Moker Jarrett]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Big Jim, and everyone else who has a problem with my "name", I guess we won't be "talking" much. It's an oddly recalcitrant stance from songwriters/musicians/Artists. Don't like it. It's very "tea party-esque"; reactionaries; people who are open to other points of view; republicans; It's repugnant. It stops logical and educated discourse. It holds people back...there are many "names" here that are nicknames...and you have my "given name" yet you still wank on my "nickname".
I do get mail delivered to ToxicRose. I do have a bank account as ToxicRose; have to because of the IRS. ToxicRose is a business after all. I'm heartbroken. A fellow Scot...do you know the history of the Campbells? If you do, and you should, you would know what they did to my Clann. Glencoe ring any bells? I'm not afraid of anyone with the name Campbell, no matter how it's spelled. They've done nothing to me to cause me to distrust them.
Depressing, all this fingerpointing and mindlessness. I won't listen to it anymore. You can have that inflexibility. I measure a person by what they do not by what they wear or the "name" they go by. Keep your inflexibility. The only one who can change your mind it you. So, I will never speak of this again, unless someone gets up in my grill about it. The next time it will come to blows. How about original songwriting at twenty paces? LET'S PARTY!!!
So, radio-ready demos are the only way to demo anymore. Even in Americana music?
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#934022 - 11/26/11 11:29 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Kevin Emmrich
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 02/24/07
Posts: 8632
Loc: Crozet, VA
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So, I will never speak of this again, unless someone gets up in my grill about it. ....
In that case, quit arguing about it and post some music!
So, radio-ready demos are the only way to demo anymore. Even in Americana music?
Radio ready only seems to be required if you are pitching to established artists, I guess.
By the way, if toxicrose is your stage/legal name of doing business in the music world, then that passes everyone's test here for "legitimacy".
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#934026 - 11/26/11 11:47 AM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Kevin Emmrich]
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Dan Sullivan
Serious Contributor
Registered: 07/17/10
Posts: 2121
Loc: MI
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Harrogate, There's no shortcuts to the Promised Land. Don't worry about the quality of the demo. Start at the beginning. Worry about the quality of the song. Of all the things that go into a hit song, the quality of the demo used to pitch it is about the least important.
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#934030 - 11/26/11 12:41 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Dan Sullivan]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Kevin,
About the "name" thing: right, I have a DBA as ToxicRose, and the rest. Each one has it's own DBA. That's why I can't understand all this bull about "a name"; won't a rose smell as sweet?
Anywho, you can post music here? How is that done?
Dan,
Nice Celtic Sir Name...although I never feel the song is finished, there always seems to be a tweak here or there that would make your mind rest a bit more easy about your baby's shine sent off to some stranger, but there is a time for all of that polishing to stop. As a writer, your lyrics/song NEVER gets to tell the listener what they are hearing. The listener gets to tell you what they heard. You need to have faith in your Art, and just send it out.
And if these "singers" who are shopping for songs are such "Artists", then I would think they would only want a representation of what the writer/composer hears/sees what the song means and how they hear it being sung. The "Vocal Artist", if they really are a musician, would want just a guideline so they can hear, feel, and have their understanding of what the song "is". It would seem that a radio-ready, cut in stone "thing" would restrict their "Artistic ear".
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The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#934034 - 11/26/11 01:25 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Dan Sullivan
Serious Contributor
Registered: 07/17/10
Posts: 2121
Loc: MI
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Toxic Rose, Here's my take on it. There's two kinds of songwriters: Those who write to express themselves and those who write to impress an audience. Those who write for commercial purposes -those looking to write the 'hit' song - fall into the later category and it behooves them to write to an audience's taste. In Nashville, there's a well-established sound and lyric sensibility. Same thing in rap. Same thing in other genres. If you seek commercial success, you should follow market trends and write to the market, build a fan base for your songs and take advantage of opportunities to make industry contacts. Simple enough. But the competition is keen. Very, very few ever get anywhere close to the winner's circle. And this is assuming you have real musical/lyrical talent.
The other type of songwriter writes for self-expression, to express his take on the world or events or just his thoughts on things. If he's just composing music, he's expressing his emotions or musical feelings. But he's not writing expressly to achieve commercial success so he's not bound by the rules or requirements of commercial songwriting, thus he has broader freedom to explore and express lyrical or musical ideas that don't fit into the narrowly drawn borders of commercial music. If he finds commercial success, it may be welcome, but it's incidental to his purpose of using songwriting for personal creative expression.
In the end the writer decides why he writes songs and who he is writing for: himself or a commercial audience and proceeds accordingly.
Edited by Dan Sullivan (11/26/11 02:25 PM)
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#934038 - 11/26/11 02:07 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Kevin Emmrich
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 02/24/07
Posts: 8632
Loc: Crozet, VA
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...Anywho, you can post music here? How is that done?
Basically you use soundclick or reverbnation or soundcloud or ... to "host" your music and then you just post a link to it in the MP3 forum. Check out other folks' posting in the MP3 forum and you will see what I am talking about.
Kevin
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#934039 - 11/26/11 02:15 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Kevin Emmrich]
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Mark Kaufman
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 09/25/07
Posts: 5927
Loc: Minneapolis
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There's two ways to change it...get the rest of the world to cooperate, or adapt to the way things are.
Demos and plugs are all about business, and business is strictly about money. Art for art's sake only matters to business if it sells. No one in the business is interested in doing all the heavy lifting of "seeing past" a bad demo to the beautiful art that is hidden inside of it. Nope--you need to do the work of making that demo actually demonstrate, not just infer the possibility of someday sounding better.
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#934105 - 11/26/11 09:33 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Mark Kaufman]
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BIG JIM MERRILEES
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 8077
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland. UK
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Toxic still not with you.....I have no beef about anybodys name or what they WANT to call themselves...it is just courtesy and politeness and more friendly to talk to people with real names rather than an avatar or made up handle....but hey if you want to be called imtoxicrose......fair enough....you are more than welcome....I would like to hear some of your material so as Kevin suggests it is easy to post something on Soundclick or
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#934106 - 11/26/11 09:33 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Mark Kaufman]
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BIG JIM MERRILEES
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 8077
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland. UK
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Toxic still not with you.....I have no beef about anybodys name or what they WANT to call themselves...it is just courtesy and politeness and more friendly to talk to people with real names rather than an avatar or made up handle....but hey if you want to be called imtoxicrose......fair enough....you are more than welcome....I would like to hear some of your material so as Kevin suggests it is easy to post something on Soundclick or
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#934107 - 11/26/11 09:33 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Mark Kaufman]
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BIG JIM MERRILEES
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 8077
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland. UK
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Toxic..... still not with you.....I have no beef about anybody's name or what they WANT to call themselves...it is just courtesy and politeness and more friendly to talk to people who use their real names rather than an avatar or made up handle....but hey if you want to be called imtoxicrose and that is a legit name you call yourself......fair enough....you are more than welcome....I would like to hear some of your material so as Kevin suggests it is easy to post something on Soundclick or similar site and provide a link.....We have a couple of lyric forums and an Mp3 forum where you can check out some of our members stuff....your input is most welcome.
I am of the opinion that it does not matter whether you are writing for fun or commercial purposes or for arts sake or just for your own enjoyment as a pastime.....you should still want to write, perform and record to the best standard you can....as I stated earlier it is an advert for you and represents you your ability and your standards......
Most people do not go for a job interview scruffy and unwashed......so why produce scruffy unwashed music.....whether acoustic or electric it should be up to the standard that impresses.....to put out sub standard stuff shows either a lack of self respect and professionalism or a lack of talent.
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#934109 - 11/26/11 09:45 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: BIG JIM MERRILEES]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Which means I must give up any privacy; the internet is not a community for the core reasons you state, why you want some kind of "real" name.
I would love to let you hear my stuff. That's why we do this embarrassing thing; expose your inner self. The internet is not about sharing, it's about taking and owning, making things more difficult, creating a need to give up yourself to get to where you wish to be going.
I don't use the internet for any other reason than to have conversations like these, to pick-up emails. I don't play games, and certainly not computer games. I know how to say no. I know how to turn something off. I don't need this too intrusive conduit. Technology serves me, I don't serve it.
There must be a way that I can make my music, share it with people, and make a Living at it. I did before the internet, and karioke -- how the hell do you spell that?
Reality shows and not that. All things are scripted before they go out to the public. They have to; we have allowed the "universal society" to replace Culture.
I'm working on how to have the best of both worlds.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#934111 - 11/26/11 10:01 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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BIG JIM MERRILEES
Top 20 Poster
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 8077
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland. UK
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Well most guys here love music and love to share their music with others...most like to help and encourage each other and to exchange ideas......whilst some crave success and wealth others just write and perform for the fun of it...or as you put it for arts sake....so we communicate to share, educate and entertain....I see nothing wrong in that or referring to each other by name......It seems that you are the one making a big thing outta a molehill.....
I am a full time performer and I make my living from music of one sort or another.....I have learned by experience that if you DO want to make a living out of music then you have to conform....you have to adapt....and diversify...and sometimes that means you have to write, perform and record stuff that is not your cup of tea in places you do not always want to be. That goes with any job...music is no different.....
Culture is in the eye of the beholder......I have played many places and seen many cultures...and many places lacking in culture.....their money is worth just the same when you bank it.
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#934115 - 11/26/11 10:22 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: BIG JIM MERRILEES]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Jim,
Culture is NOT in the eye of the beholder, it is a real things that guides you through Life. Where I'm from, Culture was the most important thing. Don't know if that's true there anymore, but it once was.
You're right. I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, to you. To me...Oh, no matter. I'm talking to the wind.
I don't much care about what celebrities say, but Eddie Van Halen once said: "You don't work music, you play it!" That's right. We, as songwriters, are oral historians. Like it or not we inform the people who hear us. If you keep saying it's alright to turn your back on Culture, people will. We let them off the hook. We inform people what's accepted. Charles Barkley once said: "I'm no role model." The problem with that is, now he sees that he is and was a role model. Ooops, how do you repair the damage of your ignorance?
Artist use to mean something positive. People used to look up to the people who owned businesses. If all money is worth the same when you bank it is EXACTLY why we have turned off our morality, given up our Cultures, forget the things that brought us to our current place. Then we get to blame others for our short comings. That isn't what I was taught. I was taught that we must own every footstep and what comes of them. You can't blame others for stuff.
Now that seems as confusing as your stance that money is the object, yet you don't appreciate what "things" have come to, yet you say one must conform. Then you say one must adapt. Adaptation is not conforming, it is finding a way to maintain in the face of adversity.
I seem to be a ship lost at sea; my Immram; I've never let my hand slip from the tiller. If I am lost to the horizon then so be it. I'll take my wisdom with me though. I'll share it, with who will listen. There must be a better, smarter, more intelligent way of doing what it is I am doing.
I am Greyfrier's Bobby to my own Culture/Life. That's fine...but there must be a better way.
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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#934167 - 11/27/11 12:41 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: imtoxicrose]
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Moker Jarrett
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/26/06
Posts: 4426
Loc: jacksonville, fl
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Those getting cuts and placements have found a way, someway,somehow to get that deal placed. Constant complaints about anything and everything in any business venture is the beginning of the end, if they remain constant they eventually kill the opportunity. Constantly looking at a lack of achievement by blaming the existing system for not providing ample opportunity is merely a sure way to block ourselves from ever hitting paydirt. In the end thoughtful positive energy always trumps pessimistic cynicism. The people getting cuts and placements are using thoughtful positive energy to help them accomplish their goals. If I have learned a few things from all the hit songwriters I have known and met and talked things over with it's, stay positive, think things through, don't ever give up,make sure a song is damn good before you spend a dime on it, and when you make that demo make it count, the bar is set very high.
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#934183 - 11/27/11 02:13 PM
Re: Demo quality important to plug songs?
[Re: Moker Jarrett]
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imtoxicrose
Serious Contributor
Registered: 09/18/11
Posts: 43
Loc: Florida
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Moker,
Yeah, agreed...but I'm not pessimistic at all. If I was I would still be a doctor making a buttload of money.
Naw, I take that back. I would have still chucked being a doctor. I would have become a plumber! They ALWAYS GET PAID.
But...nevermind. People here now seem to think that the further you bend over so the almighty corporations can commercialize you doggie, is the same as having integrity; hey I might look like a strumpet, but my bank account shouts otherwise. It's all lipstick on a cucumber.
The blessed Savior, The Internet...well, I've done the deal. I've seen the new old writing on the bathroom walls of these "internet radio stations" and the words still read: "Pay me, not you!" You can get your junk on the internet waves sure enough, as long as you pay to play! It's the same deal as song sharks, songpluggers, everyone but YOU is making money from your ideas!
That's not being cynical, nor is it pessimistic, as long as you try to make the system work for you.
There's gotta be a better way, a way that doesn't make you wear funny clothes, lipstick, and talk funny as you prostrate before THE STAR MAKERS...Toby Keith -- I'm not anywhere close to a fan -- goes "indi" and he's not even invited to the Country Awards. Humm, that's not pessimistic, that's realistic; it's happening! It's about units sold.
Radio ready means: "You spend your money, do all our work for us, then, if your limber enough, and you brought the right moisturizer, and properly executed toe-touching maneuver we might let you have a couple of spins..."
I'm out!
_________________________
The sad fact is, we now Live in a Reality that demands you believe in the security of fantasy. - MacIain
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