JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Mentor Questions Forum Demos

Lex, I've never heard your songs, so I'm not commenting on you specifically, but after several years in the music business I've come to believe this: LONG before demo quality, a songwriter should make it a mission to ensure SONG QUALITY. If the song is not absolutely top notch in every way it is a waste of money to buy an expensive demo. Until the songs are of very high quality, any money spent on recording should be thought of as being spent to learn how to record.

I've heard a lot of demos and out of all of them many, many more were high quality recordings of poor songs than were poor recordings of high quality songs. A good producer/publisher/listener can hear if a song is good through a bad demo but they can also hear if a song is bad through a good demo. A bad producer/publisher/listener may not be able to tell...but songwriters should stay away from bad producers and etc.

Now, having said that, pitching a poor quality demo of a good song can begin to label a songwriter as being "clueless." The songwriter can get a reputation as someone who does not understand the importance of good quality recording.

My definition of a good quality demonstration (demo) recording is one which is clear, pleasing and which does not distract from the song itself. A music business listener does not always have to hear "radio ready" songs, but until a songwriter knows which listeners do need "radio ready" material, they are better off only pitching such demos. The risk is, again, the songwriter gets a reputation as someone who doesn't know their audience.
The reason why reputation is important is that a songwriter is pitching themselves as much as they are pitching a particular song. The music business is a personal business. A lot of money gets invested, most of which is never recouped, so trust is important. Hence, folks prefer to do business with friends and acquaintances whom they trust.

So, as I said, I don't know where you are at as a writer of quality songs, but I highly recommend that you consider a good strong self assessment including a lot of input, especially from people who've been experienced in the music business, before buying expensive demos. One quick suggestion, though, if and when you do buy demos, get a seperate mix of the demo without the vocal. That way a songwriter can make changes to the lyric or the melody, or can even write a completely different song to the track as their skill level increases or when the muse takes hold.

Hope that helps.

Mike