JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Demo Question

Hi again folks,

As many of you know, I'm from the tiny island of Guam and I write songs, pay to get them demoed off island, yadda yadda yadda.

Anyway, recently, I was approached by a local artist and asked if I had any songs she could use in her next project. It's very rare that local artists here even put out any albums, and I don't know why I never thought about it before (maybe cuz I'm new at all this), but if I let her go ahead and record it, wouldn't that be a demo for free?

I was thinking I should just let local artists record my songs and use their versions as my demos.

Is this common/uncommon, ethical/unethical, wise/unwise? Does anyone have anything to say about this?

Thanks,
Wendell



[This message has been edited by sparty5 (edited 08-11-2001).]

Wendell,

This is a good way to get free demos as long as the cut is good.

I had Reba McIntyre's sister, Susie Luchsinger, record a Christmas song of mine and it sounded great...a lot like Reba. I used that as a demo for years. I've also had other artist cuts that I didn't feel represented the song the way I wanted them to, so back to the studio.

Good luck! Here's hoping you get a dynamite cut that sells your song like crazy.

Hi Sparky,
No there is nothing unethical about letting an artist record one of your songs that hasn't had a pro demo made. I'm sure it happens all the time. If an artist decides to record one of your songs you will want to possibly utilize the services of a music publisher to do all the legal work involved. This is a normal business practice and then all of your rights are protected. At this time see what you can do about a cut and if so post again if you don't have a publisher. If someone on the board can't help you I can direct you to one or two. Good luck. RES.

How about a response from a Writer as well as a Recording Artist. I have recorded songs for the demos. They use them and I use them to. You never know if a song really works until you hear the final product. As for my own songs, if anyone besides The Band Dakota wants to record one of my songs and give me a demo of it. I say, if it doesn't suck , why would I have a problem with a different version of my song, with more people plugging my song for me? Makes economical sense to me.

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Thanks for the tips folks.

I think I'll give it a shot and give some local artists here some credit. Besides, if their version sucks, I don't lose any money and I WON'T use it as a demo.

So let's say their version is good and it's on their album here on Guam. Do I need their permission to use it say if I wanted to submit it to TAXI or have it represented by a publishing co.??

Thanks,
Wendell

As long as you retain the writes to the song you are fine.

paul lawrence

paul@artistjam.com

http://www.artistjam.com

this is fine but check to see if she is wanting to release your songs on an album
if so then great but she may not want you to use the song/tape as a demo