How to Submit a Demo to Get a Record Deal

Every aspiring musician dream of that day when they will land a recording deal with a record company.

Unfortunately many artistes have submitted their demos but have not received any feedback from the companies. This can be very frustrating and discouraging.

This article is written to give you some hints on what to do and how to go about submitting your demos in order to get a recording deal.

Just like in every other aspect of business there is a need for you as an artiste to research the company you want to submit your demo to as not all recording companies are appropriate for your genre of music. This you can do by checking out the submission policy of these companies which you will most often find on their websites, or you can call or send an email to them or even visit them in person to request for their submission policy, where possible, take time out to find out who is in charge of accepting demos and discuss how many volumes of demos and how soon it can take to get a feed back from the company or how soon your demo will be considered. This will reduce your moments of anxiety.

Some of these recording companies don’t accept unsolicited demos so you may need to email or call them for permission to submit your demo. You must research to know who their A & R representatives are before packaging the demo to send to them.

You must not think that your demo is like sending an e-mail or CD to everyone you think might be interested, it is often more than that.

Your demo is your first point of contact, your PR maker, it is your billboard which goes ahead of you to show the “stuff” you have and your uniqueness as well as what you can do, as such you must be able to present yourself in a decent and proper manner.

You should assess the quality of your music and ensure that it meets up with the standard of the industry as well as that of the company you are sending the demo to. Of course, you should try to surpass the current standard; this gives you an edge and an advantage. Constructively criticize your work for improvement.

Another area you need to pay attention to is the packaging of your demo. The quality of your packaging will go a long way to do the magic for you when submitting your demo. A well packaged, bright and transparent packaging keeps the A & R reps interested in what you have got. Make sure you spend a few cents on packaging and presentation; the result will come when your demo is accepted.

In the course of packaging make sure you put your strongest song first must get to the hook or a vocal line within the first 15 seconds as this is the point listeners can hang their jacket and be comfortable with your work. You won’t have much longer than that to make an impression.

Never make the mistake of sending out more than 4 tracks at a time , because the demo is like the movie trailer whose job is to arouse the interest of the audience .Once you get their attention you will be required to bring along additional work, so make sure you also have some good materials at hand just in case.

I hope this little bit is helpful. I wish you the very best as you submit your demos.