Song demos are your business card to music producers, song writers and other music industry insiders. A good demo may result in getting those special gigs on weekend nights or possibly sparking some interest from an A&R rep. Good demos can open doors and introduce you and your work to professionals and opportunities that may not otherwise be available. A bad demo may lead your band into gigging on weekdays in bad time slots were there usually is no audience into the wrong clubs at the wrong times or worst yet no interest from many people in the music business. Below you will find some smart advice that will position you, your band and your songs in the best light possible. Also included are some important things that can stop your music business pursuit in it’s path.

If you have more than one song on your demo, the best song needs to be the first song. Most people in the music business are generally very busy and if the first song on your demo doesn’t catch their attention it is highly unlikely that they will listen to the rest of your CD.

Limit your demo to 3 to 6 songs. For the same reasons as above, music industry professionals can be very busy with limited time to hear and make decisions about your songs. Don’t overload them with all of your work. Pick the best three to six songs to be put on your demo. That should be more than enough to showcase what you and your band can do.

Make sure to put your contact info on both the CD as well as your CD jacket. Your disc may get separated from the jacket and if you don’t have your contact info on the CD the listener may not go to the trouble of trying to locate the CD jacket to find your contact info. Prevent any possible problems by having your contact info in both places.

Your recording quality is very important. Make sure that the CD you are sending was decently recorded. It doesn’t have to be done in a 24 track full blown studio. Just make sure the recording is clean and sounding good.

Don’t Shotgun your demo CD. Shotgunning is mailing your CD to dozens of music industry people without determining what types of music that they work with or if they accept unsolicited submissions. If you are sending to labels check out other artist that are on that label. A label that puts out rock albums may not be interested in a country act. The best thing you can do is to send a letter describing your act and that you would like to submit a sample demo to them. Include a self addressed stamped post card for their reply. This will get you an answer as quick as anything would.

These five pieces of advice will go a long way toward getting your songwriting, heard by those who need to know you and your music.

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