Demo CDs, A few questions ?

[MarkN]

Hi, ive started to think recently about putting together some form of demo just that i can carry round with me and hand out to whoever etc, i've just got some questions on the whole thing ! First how many tracks do people usually put on this i don't want to put too many on but obviously i don't want to little ? another question is it worth saving up some money and getting the CD mastered before i hand it out ? im not sure the cost of doing this but i thought if it sounds more finished and professional they are more likely to like it !
And finally is it a case of hand it out to anyone and everyone or be more selective ?

 

[Guevara]

You SHoULD ALWAYS KEEP ATLEAST 2 CoPY'S oF YoUR WoRK oN YOU.
YoUR BEST WORK.iD ADViSE YOU To MAKE SNiPPETS oF YoUR TRACKS, oR YoU CAN JUST ADD THoSE ANoYiNG VoCAL CUTS, BUT THEY SERVE A PURPosE.
THE THiNG ABoUT MASTERiNG iS, iF YouR TRACK iS ALREADY A GoOD TRACK THEN iT SHoULD STAND oUT oN iTS oWN.AND ARTiST ARENT LiKE US THEY DoNT ALWAYS LiSTEN FoR PERFECT SoUND QUALiTY, YoU AND i MAY SLAVE oVER THE PERFECT PAN oF THE Hi HATS, BUT THE ARTiST iS JUST LoOKiNG For A HoT BEAT, THE SoUND QUALiTY SHoULD ALREADY BE GoOD, BUT iF YoU DoNT THiNK YoUR MUSiC iS HoT oN iTS oWN, YoU SHoULDNT TRY To MASK PoOR QUALiTY MUSiC WiTH A "PRoFESSiONAL SoUND".

DiSTRiBUTE AMoNGST THoSE WHo YoU FEEL CAN GET YouR MUSiC oUT AND GET YouR CAREER MoViNG FORWARD.
i GiVE THiS ADViCE A LoT, YoU SHoULD FiND A HoT LoCAL ARTiST AND TRY To HoOK UP WiTH THAT PERSoN.YoULL oNLY BE HELPiNG EACH oTHER AND oNCE THE MUSiC BEGiNS To CiRCULATE PEoPLE WiLL START To ASK QUESTiONS.
BUT iF YoU HAPPEN To BE SoMEWHERE AND You RUN iNTo SoMEoNE oF SoME STATUS, THEN YoU WoULD oBViOUSLY GiVE THEM A CD, YoU BASiCALLY HAVE To BE SELECTiVE, ESPECiaLLY NoW iN A TiME WHERE EVERYBoDYS A RAPPER AND EVERYBoDY HAS A LABEL, YoU CAN TEST THESE WATERS BUT YoU SHoULD BE ABLE To TELL THE DiFFERENCE BETWEEN THE REAL AND THE FAKE.EVERY RoAD iS A LEARNiNG EXPERiENCE

 

[MarkN]

yea thank guevera, yea that woz another thing i wondered about woz how long i should have my tracks i think i'll just have samples and fade them out ! how many tracks are we looking at here though ?

As for mastering it woz just another idea as its only gonna make it sound better ?

 

[Greg Savage]

From what i seen at this studio i intern for.. Most all CD's get tossed No bullshit man.. best way to get in the Door is know someone.. build a relationship with the Assistants if u have to someone build a Relationship.. becaus the Assistants/ Sec's at these big labels are the 1's Pair if Hands ur material Touch and most of the time there the ones Listening before they pass to the A & R thats real talk.then tell them what u will send that way they will Expect it.. Quality.. at least get it Radio ready.. Alot of times People Skip ur 1st track they listen to like 30 seconds of it skip to the 2nd pr 3rd my advice make sure its ALL HOT (beats/ songs) whatever.. and copyright ur shit.. save backups and ur midi files to each song to protect ur shit

 

[MarkN]

k ,yea cheers for the advice, as for number of songs how many would you recommend ! ?

thanks

 

[Greg Savage]

5-7 Strong ONES no more than 10.. if ur good and hey want more they will contact.. or u can put the Demo up as A Sampler like Playing 45 seconds to a Minute of Each song this way u can fit more on But if u get that connection gon head andd Send full tracks and again no more than 10 make sure they knock

 

[Guevara]

FRoM MY EXPERiENCE WiTH DiFFERENT PEoPLE, i KNoW A CoUPLE A&R'S WHo HAVE SAiD THEY HAVE A 20 SECoND RULE, MEANiNG iF THE TRACK DoESNT GRAB THEM iN 20 SECoNDS, iTS oVER.
THEY DoNT HAVE TiME LiKE THAT.
i WoULD SAY 8 oF YoUR BEST TRACKS AT THE MAXiMUM iF YoURE DEALiNG WiTH AN A&R oR SoMEoNE ELSE WiTHiN THE iNDUSTRY, THAT NUMBER CAN FLEXiBLE iF YoURE DEALiNG WiTH AN ARTiST CUZ YoU DoNT ALWAYS KNoW WHAT THE ARTiST WiLL LiKE.

 

[MarkN]

kewl thanks for the help guys i think i'll prob put about 5 or 6 tracks on the demo, get it mastered if i can just to get the tracks sounding a bit more polished and then is it owrth getting artwork done for it or should it just be plain and to the point ! ?
thanks

 

[Guevara]

THE EMPHASiS SHoULD BE oN YoUR CoNTACT iNFoRMATiON,
YoU MiGHT ALSo WANT To CoNSiDER LiSTiNG THE EQUiPMENT YoU USE.
MAYBE A BiT oF PERSoNAL iNFo, To MAKE iT STAND oUT, AND To GiVE YoURSELF AN iDENTiTY To THoSE LiSTENiNG.BUT i WoULDNT Go oVERBoARD.
YoU CAN EVEN Do THAT MUCH oN YoUR oWN CoMPUTER.

RELEASE;

 

[Greg Savage]

FRoM MY EXPERiENCE WiTH DiFFERENT PEoPLE, i KNoW A CoUPLE A&R'S WHo HAVE SAiD THEY HAVE A 20 SECoND RULE, MEANiNG iF THE TRACK DoESNT GRAB THEM iN 20 SECoNDS, iTS oVER.
THEY DoNT HAVE TiME LiKE THAT.
i WoULD SAY 8 oF YoUR BEST TRACKS AT THE MAXiMUM iF YoURE DEALiNG WiTH AN A&R oR SoMEoNE ELSE WiTHiN THE iNDUSTRY, THAT NUMBER CAN FLEXiBLE iF YoURE DEALiNG WiTH AN ARTiST CUZ YoU DoNT ALWAYS KNoW WHAT THE ARTiST WiLL LiKE.

^^^ thats real talk there

 

[DaFunkDocta2004]

No offense to anyone whose offered advice here, cuz it's all good, but that number of tracks is way too low man. I've listened to the CDs established and close-to-the-come-up producers, and the number of tracks I keep seeing is no less 20. I've scanned through 30 to 40 tracks sometimes. These tracks have "voice tags" on them, you know, some vocal sample identifying the stuff. Some people fade that in and out throughout the snippets because there are so many beats. MF Doom got a CDs from Madlib going past the 100 mark. Just letting you know what cats are doing to really compete in this arena.

Don't bother with mastering. Put that money into making the necessary copies and some minor graphics. a little packaging. Having a portable Minidisc recorder with an MD of the same CD can be very helpful in on-the-spot situations. If your man has Acid or any recording program, go re-record it, polish it, and sequence it there. A graphic of your logo and/or contact information should be on the CD. Business cards make things easier, too. you can get 500 for only shipping and handling at Vistaprint. Personal info is unnecessary. Just all the ways they contact you: email, work, home, your girl, your main partner's crib, the studio you frequent. ALL of them. Give them your momma's number if you have to!

MAIL NOTHING. Unless the circumstances absolutley prevent you from meeting the artist and their manager face-to-face. NO shopping through other producers. A lot of rat finks out there man...even the great Kanye West ended up jerking his man. Good luck.

 

[Guevara]

i GoTTA DiSAGREE
i THiNK THE KEY THERE iS "ESTABLiSHED".
WE ARE NoT ESTABLiSHED. WiTH THAT SAiD NoBoDY iS GoNNA SiT THRoUGH 30 TRACKS FRoM SoMEBoDY THEYVE NEVER HEARD oF.THERE JUST iSNT THAT MUCH TiME ESPECiALLY WHEN YoURE THE A&R AT A MAJoR LABEL AND YoU HAVE PRoJECTS To PUT ToGETHER AND oTHER BUSiNESS To ATTEND.
BUT iF AFRiQUEDELUXE oR DJ HoPPA SEND ME A BEAT CD AND iT HAS 30 TRACKS oN iT, i WoULD CHECK EVERYoNE AND WoULD PRoBABLY HAVE SoME FEEDBACK.BUT i WoULD oNLY iNVEST So MUCH TiME BECAUSE i ALREADY HAVE AN APPRECiATiON FoR THEiR MUSiC.
iF THE MUSiC FRoM A NEWCoMER iS GoOD, THEN iT WiLL EVENTUALLY GRoW oN FoLKS BUT THEN WHAT Do YoU HAVE TO SHoW FoR THE FUTURE WHEN YoUVE ALREADY EXPoSED EVERYTHiNG???
i USED TO HAVE SoMEWHAT oF A RELATiONSHiP WiTH A RELATiVE oF A SEMi-PoPULAR ARTiST (iF YoU WANNA KNoW WHo, SEND ME A PM, i JUST DoNT WANNA PUT EVERYBoDY'S BUSiNESS oUT HERE iN THE oPEN) WHo HAS BEEN oN THE RiSE AS oF RECENT.AND GOiN THRoUGH DiFFERENT BEAT CD'S AT THiS iNDiViDUALS HoME i FoUND A CoUPLE oF ALCHEMiST CD'S. THATS WHERE i GoT THE NUMBER 8 FRoM.i ALSo CAME To REALiZE THAT HE STRUCTURED HiS iNSTRUMENTAL SERiES LiKE THAT.
MY POiNT To MAKE iS THAT iF PEoPLE ARE FEELiN YoU THEY WiLL CoME BACK To THE SoURCE.
AND THEN YoU DoNT WANT ALL oF YoUR TRACKS FLoATiNG ARoUND AFTER YoU SENT SoMEBoDY A CD AND THEY oNLY USED TWo BEATS iF THAT. NoW YoU GOT 28 BEATS iN SoMEBoDY'S CoLLECTiON SoMEWHERE UNPRoTECTED.
i WAS oNCE DEALiNG WiTH AN A&R HERE iN THE CiTY WHo HAD A GoOD NUMBER oF MY BEATS oN A SiNGLE CD, i GoT SoME iNTEREST FRoM THAT CD BUT THAT FELL THRoUGH, NoW i CAN oNLY HoPE THAT HE LoSES THE CD, oR iT iS SCRATCHED SoMEWHERE UNDER HiS CoUCH.
THATS NoT A GoOD FEELiNG.
MF DoOM iF i CAN REMEMBER HAD THE 100 BEAT SERiES, So THAT WAS FoR A REASoN.
MY ADViCE iS, STiCK To THE LoW NUMBERS.

AND NoT THAT iTS REALLY A MEASURE oF TALENT BUT HoW MANY PEoPLE CAN EVEN TELL YoU WHo MF DoOM EVEN iS???

 

[Producer_GyaL]

Thanks guevara, you gave a lot of good advices!

 

[Greg Savage]

Lmao the worst is when that A & R only passes your beats to there producer's to Study

 

[Guevara]

Lmao the worst is when that A & R only passes your beats to there producer's to Study

No THE WoRST iS WHEN THEY PASS iT oN TO THEiR PRoDUCERS To CoPY, oR DUPLiCATE, So THAT THEY DoNT HAVE To CREDiT YoU, WHiCH MEANS THEY DoNT HAVE To PAY YoU.
iNDUSTRY BiTCHES...LoL.

iTS FUNNY CUZ A LoT oF THESE A&R'S, ESPECiALLY AT A LoT oF STARTUP LABELS AND iNDY LABELS, THEY ARE JUST HoOD NiGGAS oR SoMEBoDY WHo CAME UP UNDER SoMEBoDY ELSE AND HAS A RELATiONSHiP, THEY LoOKiN oUT FoR THEiR BEST iNTEREST AND THE iNTEREST oF THEiR oWN PEoPLES.A LoT of THESE YoUNG A&R'S HAVENT HAD ANY EXPERiENCE oR "TRAiNiNG" iN THE FiELD, WHiCH CAN BE GoOD BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST REGULAR PEoPLE AND THEY ARE SoMEWHAT CoNNECTED To THE STREETS BUT SoME oF THESE DUDES CARRY THE STREET MENTALiTY iNTo THE BUSiNESS, AND iT MAY SEEM SHADY, BUT AT THE END oF THE DAY YoU WoULDNT WANT YoUR PEoPLES TO STARVE EiTHER, So AS DoORS oPEN UP THERE MAY BE A PREFERENCE AT TiMES, iM NoT SAYiNG iTS ALL THE TiME BUT THESE ARE JUST REGULAR PEoPLE YoU HAVE To REMEMBER, THEY WERENT BoRN A&R'S.
BUT FoR THE MoST PART A LoT oF THESE DUDES HAVE PUT iN THEiR WoRK.
oNE oF THE A&R'S AT RoC-A-FELLA, (iF HE iSNT THE "HEAD" A&R NoW) CAME UP THRoUGH THE STREET TEAM, KEViN LiLES RoSE FRoM THE STREET TEAM To BECoME A PRESiDENT AT DEF JAM, RiGGS MoRALES THE A&R AT SHADY, USED To WRiTE REVEWS AND VARiOUS ARTiCLES FoR THE SOURCE MAGAZiNE, HE WAS EVEN THE "UNSiGNED HYPE" GUY FoR A WHiLE, So SoME oF THESE DUDES Do KNoW WHAT THEYRE DOiNG BUT SoME oF THESE GUYS ARE YoUNG AND iNEXPERiENCED.

RELEASE;

 

[afriquedeluxe]

yeah am pretty much with what guevara said. sending demos can be a good thing, but if you havent built a buzz in your area, then peeps at the label mite hold back.
the best thing to do is work on a tape with some local peeps and push it in your area man. get it on the radio, that way A&Rs will come to you, not the other way round.
or if you cant get rappers, do a remix cd, save up some money and get it mad distributed, send copies to all radio stations.

sending demos and waiting on a label to contact you i dont think is really practical. first get a buzz in your area, get some fans, then labels will know that people like your music.

markn since your from the uk, i think we got it easier here, cuz the country is small and there is less competition cuz of a smaller population. but yeah if you do your demo, put pics in there, have it look pro so people will know how commited you are to investing in yourself, cuz if you cant invest in yourself, why should anybody else bother.

 

[MarkN]

guevera you've been a big help good stuff in your posts man !

yea afrique in a way we got it good, but on the otherhand, i mean especially where im from theres fuck all going on with the scene so its hard to break into anything at all ! I think im gonna get sum demos out just to test the water the worst they can do is not reply at all ! and if only one person replied with sumthing i could use then its a positive thing !

 

[nas2000xl]

hey my post was deleted!!!

 

[Guevara]

THiS iS GoNNA GARNER AN iNTERESTiNG EXPLiNATiON.
WHAT DiD YoU SAY???

RELEASE;

 

[Qwerty]

guevera you've been a big help good stuff in your posts man !

yea afrique in a way we got it good, but on the otherhand, i mean especially where im from theres fuck all going on with the scene so its hard to break into anything at all ! I think im gonna get sum demos out just to test the water the worst they can do is not reply at all ! and if only one person replied with sumthing i could use then its a positive thing !

maybe the worst they can do, is steal your track....