The real guide to getting a record Deal Part 1

This article is aimed at musicians, songwriters or anyone else who wants to know how to go about approaching a record company for the first time. At some point in time most bands or musicians will decide to try sending a demo to a record company in the hope of securing that all important recording contract, the problem is that sending an unsolicited demo is not the best way to get a deal and dealing with record companies can be daunting to the beginner.

However don’t give up just yet because you can significantly improve your chances by reading and following this book.

Please note though that this article  is not called how to get a record deal and become a multi-millionaire rock star as I would be unable to gurantee that, I can however say with confidence that if you follow the guidelines in this book you will get your music heard by the right people, the people that have the power to offer you a recording contract. After that it is up to your music to do the talking, and that I cannot help with. Regardless of the stories you hear these days about studio technology and how anyone can become a pop star unfortunately it isn’t true and at the end of the day no matter what tactics you use if the music isn’t up to scratch no record company will ever sign it.

 

This is a real life guide to getting your music heard by the right people, the people who have the power to offer you a recording contract, not the record company receptionist who is given a pile of unsolicited demos to listen to each day.

This guide doesn’t beat around the bush, getting a record deal is not going to be easy there are many factors which must come together at the same time for you to even stand a chance of a deal and this is before your music has even been heard.

When that moment comes a whole new set of obstacles are then in place. Unfortunately getting a record deal is not like applying for a loan where all applications are put through the same computer system and a decision is based on a mathematical system. You are dealing with real people in a cut throat multi-billion pound business and that means you are dealing with greed, ego’s and all that is good and bad with human nature.

 

Welcome to the music Business………..

 

 

 

 

 

Before we start there are five important things that you need to be aware of regarding record companies, remember that it is the record company that you are ultimately trying to win over and it pays to learn all you can about your opponent.

Here are five things that you should always consider and are generic to all record companies.

5 Record company Guidelines

1. The music business is just that, a business. Record companies are companies.

They invest in a product which they then sell at a profit.

If a company thinks your music will make them money then they will sign it.

2. A & R scouts want your demo to be good, many A & R scouts are dreamers, many are failed musicians, many are both but they are all hoping that the next demo they pick up will be the one! The act that will get them that top head of A & R job and free drinks for life when they mention at the bar that they discovered (

insert your name here).

 

Those magic words the demo, everyone seems to have there own idea of what a demo should entail and what format it should take. Now there are two important points that we must clear up before we go any further,

It would be almost unheard of for an artist or band to be signed on a demo alone.

But saying that never underestimate how important your demo is, it is your calling card, it is the first impression that the record company will get of you so never settle for second best. Your demo must be produced to the best that your ability and budget will allow and if you have any doubts about you or a member of your bands ability to record and produce to a high standard then hire someone who can!

Now it is time for the 5 golden rules of The demo -

1. Three tracks is more than enough, if anybody wants to hear any more they can request more.

2. Put your best song first, this sounds obvious but you would be surprised how many artists struggle with this basic concept, don’t just take your opinion on your best track get as many opinions as you can from friends and myspace etc.

3. Unless stated otherwise send it on CD, don’t try and look professional and send it on DAT, it will not get listened to, don’t email MP3’s or links to an external website unless asked, A&R are busy people and if you make it difficult for them to listen to your demo it will simply just not get heard. Believe it or not I recently spoke to the head of one music publishing company who said they still receive demos on cassette!

4. Think about the possibility of remixing your tracks if you have long intros or the tracks exceed four minutes in total length.

5. Check every single CD that you send to make sure the it has burned correctly and there are no errors, no skips etc. if possible check it on a couple of different systems, don’t just check it on your computer, listen to it in the car or on your home stereo. I once spoke to a singer/songwriter who had sent out over fifty copies of his demo before he actually listened to one of the copies, when he put it onto his stereo all the tracks jumped and skipped he then had no idea if this was just a one off or a fault that had occurred on all his other copies. The only thing he was sure of was that he never got offered a deal!

 

 Coming soon – Part 2, what now?