How To Pick A Song Demo Service
Before using a song demo service to record your original songs, be absolutely certain they are ready to be recorded by making sure you polish them with a rewrite. Also, test your songs out by singing them either acapella or with an accompanying instrument by yourself and in front of friends, family members, etc. Taking your gut feeling and your listener’s reactions into account, it’ll be easier to decide if and which of your songs are ready to be recorded.
A song demo is exactly that – a demo! This is why they are and SHOULD BE far less expensive than a recording for a CD release. Therefore, what you want to look for instead of a company promising you a “radio-ready” recording with all the bells and whistles, is a company that’ll be able to provide a clean, pro-
sounding recording to give your song the best possible chance.
To find a great song demo service you’ll need to start right in your own hometown! Take the time to contact and visit studios performing these services in your area, ask to hear examples of their work, and try to establish some type of rapport or relationship with them so they can take you more seriously and
not see you as JUST ANOTHER CUSTOMER.
There are many studios offering excellent demo services but you have to do much initial legwork to find one that works for your songwriting goals. This involves comparing several companies before making a decision. If you don’t have any companies offering these services in your vicinity, then as a last resort
you may have to consider an online demo service, but you should proceed with caution.
Demo services are very competitively priced these days and many offer flat rates with optional costs such as background singers, extra instruments, etc. Starting rates vary from as low as approximately $100.00 to $800.00 per song, and you generally get what you pay for! Recording is not cheap, and if you’re not a music producer or an arranger, remember, these companies try to provide all of these services as inexpensively as possible in one package!
Beware, there are companies out there that give legitimate ones a bad name by drawing you in and charging you extra with each visit to cover what they say are their increasing recording costs. Songwriters and other musicians have found themselves in a bad situation where they’ve literally spent hundreds with no decent product to show for it. Negotiate a flat fee with a demo service, get it in writing, and stick to it!
Also, when you do find a demo service you want to try,it’s wise to commit to only ONE RECORDING AT A TIME. Remember, this is a business, and demo companies need your business, so some will try to make you commit to more than one recording because it benefits them!
Keep total control by recording only one song at a time until its completion-this way, if for any reason you are dissatisfied with your first recording, you can pick up and go elsewhere and you will not have needlessly wasted money on other songs.
Of course, the best possible scenario when recording your songs would be to do it yourself in your own home studio. Recording setups have become increasingly more inexpensive and if you’re planning on chasing a professional songwriting career, it would be wise to try your hand at production even if it means being able to record only a piano or guitar/vocal of your songs. By choosing this route you can actually save yourself the $1500 or so you would have spent on a three song demo, and instead use that to build your own songwriting studio in your own home!
Many amateur and pro songwriters have their own little home studio setup with some of the equipment or similar items shown on this page:
http://www.songwriteradvisor.com/build-your-studio.html
The only drawback to having your own studio is it takes few months to really learn your equipment and make effective recordings. But in the end, it can be the best investment you’ll ever make in your songwriting career-you’ll never have to pay for a song demo service ever again!
