Your Presentation
When you make contact you need to make a presentation-package, which includes a demo. How good the technical quality of the demo should be depends totally on whom you contact. We do not have recommendations concerning the money and time that should be spent on increasing the potential of your demo - that´s up to the individual. Neither will we recommend various studios.
The format of the demo matters little, but along with it you will need to include various complementary elements:
Pictures - Very important
How will the act be presented to the audience? The presentation of an act without pictures is like a movie without sound: it is impossible to judge the project as a whole. Today, the visual aspects of an act are becoming increasingly vital. Try to get the pictures you are sending to give a fair idea of the artists´ looks, so don't go for sharp contrasts or photographic effects. Big tits and hairy chests may well add entertainment value, but if you make it too obvious it will draw attention away from the music and make the person who is presenting it look cheap.
A songwriter will not have to provide pictures when presenting his songs.
Character
Try to determine what it is that is characteristic about your act and emphasize it. In today´s broad output of music, one needs a profile to break through. Your particular characteristics can be featured in the music, the pictures, the image or the presentation, wherever it feels comfortable. Just make sure that whoever you present your demo to have understood just what it is that makes you special.
Also, send your demo in a package that looks exciting and demands attention at first sight.
Commitment & Drive
Most parents and friends to the hit seeker claim that making it in the music business is impossible and that he should get a real job. Every major player in the business knows that this is uneducated nonsense. It is possible to make it big, for anyone.
If you want to make it big, one thing that is essential is that you believe it is possible. If you make excuses and express doubt when you present yourself, you will come across as mediocre. You need to make it perfectly clear that the project you are presenting is something to which you are 100% committed, and that you have the drive and belief to work with it as much as it takes to make it successful.
When sending a demo you will need to write a letter explaining that this is your ultimate goal and dream. It is preferable to do this face to face in a meeting, or over the phone, but, in any case, you will need to emphasize how much you want to succeed. Never express feelings of self-doubt such as "maybe this is not good enough", or "why would I of all people succeed", or "I'm sending this in the hope that maybe..." etc. Even though realizing your limitations and being open to advice is vital, you must not betray a lack of self-confidence. Who´s going to believe in you if you don´t believe in yourself?
Therefore, also make sure that you always present your best material. Be picky, and never present more than 3 songs. You might not get all that many chances. It is commercially unwise to show off the broadness of your repertoire, as you will end up looking like someone who is not able to determine what is good or bad.
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