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The professional demo recording process is a necessary part of the equation for songwriters aspiring to get their material heard by music industry decision-makers and, hopefully, cut by successful recording artists. Despite the fact that hundreds of demos are recorded every week in places like Nashville, New York and Los Angeles, new songwriters often find themselves overwhelmed and a bit intimidated by the prospect of getting their songs demoed and ready for prime time. By highlighting some of the mistakes I’ve encountered in my years of recording songwriter demos, I can hopefully help new songwriters avoid some of the pitfalls that result in either overly expensive or ineffective recordings.

Mistake #1: The song isn’t finished.

It would seem obvious but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been paid (on the studio clock) for the privilege of watching a client’s creative process. I do understand why this happens. It’s incredibly exciting to feel like you’ve got a great song on your hands and the temptation is to get it recorded right away even if there’s a small tweak or two left to finish. I mean, how long can it take to re-write the second line of the bridge, right? Well, the reality is that when you’re in the studio and the clock is ticking, the environment is a lot more stressful than it is creative. Not the ideal place to make sure your lyric is perfect. Unless you’re planning on only being a songwriter for another week or so, be patient, take your time and know that waiting another week (or even another month) to make sure your song is done before you book the studio time is always a good policy. Remember, you’re going to be spending real money on this recording so be as certain as you can that your song is ready before you begin the process of recording.

Mistake #2: You haven’t made a rough recording.

Everyone’s writing process is different and vive la difference BUT the one essential part of making sure your song is finished is making a simple rough recording. When I say “simple” and “rough,” I mean one instrument (usually guitar or piano) and a vocal into anything from a hand-held recorder to your smart phone. Here’s why. Without listening back to your song from the perspective of an audience member, you’ll miss a critical part of the writing/editing process. It doesn’t matter if you’ve played the song live a hundred times, by sitting back with a lyric sheet and just listening to the song, you’ll notice little flaws and missteps that you might never have heard if you’d just played and sung the song to yourself. The rough recording gives you the necessary perspective for those last few adjustments. I’d recommend re-recording your rough every time you think you’ve got the song totally finished. There’s an added benefit as well. Once you’re absolutely satisfied with your final rough recording, you’ll then have something to provide the demo vocalist so they can learn your song and you’ll have a reference for the session musicians when they get to the studio.

Mistake #3: You think the demo will fix what isn’t quite working in your song.

Every once in a while you’ll finish a song and feel like it’s missing a certain something but it’s easy to convince yourself the song is fine and just needs the full demo treatment to give it what it lacks. My experience is that if you have reservations before you demo, the demo won’t solve that problem. Of course all songs sound better with a full band of great players on them BUT don’t invest that money to fix a problem that most likely needs to be addressed in the melody and lyric of the song itself. If you find yourself feeling like your song is missing something and you’re not sure what it is, play it for a trusted friend or put it away for a while and come back to it. Demoing to fix the problem is an expensive way to get unsatisfactory results.

Mistake #4: You think you’ll save money by recording/playing on the demo yourself.

I completely understand the mindset. I did it myself for years. The difference is that I was as passionate about becoming a recording engineer and session musician as I was about writing songs. If you’re only looking at recording and playing on your demos as a way to save money and not to become a professional engineer and session musician, then you’re better off hiring experts to do what you don’t do well. The key is to end up with a recording that marks you as a professional not one that saves you money but isn’t up to par. There’s no point in saving money on a demo that isn’t pitchable. Take your own ego out of the equation. No one else can write your song for you. That’s where you’re the expert but unless you’re also an expert at recording, playing and singing in the studio, it doesn’t make sense to do it yourself. When it comes to making a good impression with your demo, your recording has to measure up to the highest quality standards and that’s worth paying for. At the end of the day, if you’re trying to make money with your songs then remember it’s a business and you have to invest money in order to make it.

Mistake #5: You decide to record a full-band demo without having a VERY good reason

It’s understood that professionally recorded, full band demos sound amazing BUT it’s also understood that they’re expensive. Sometimes, VERY expensive. Depending on why you’re demoing your song, a simple, professionally performed and recorded guitar/vocal or piano/vocal may very well be all you need. In my opinion, there are just a few reasons to record a full band demo. First, you’ve got a film/tv pitch opportunity and they’re looking for a full-band sound for a particular scene. A second reason would be that you’re planning on using your demo as an artist project for the singer doing the vocal. For excample, you may be working with a great, young singer and you’re planning on killing two birds with one stone by demoing the song you wrote but also putting together a series of recordings that showcase that singer as an artist. In that case, do it up. You’ll be well served by going all the way with these recordings. That being said, I would strongly suggest not recording a full band demo of your song just because you want to. Professionally performed and recorded demos are never inexpensive but you can get more bang for your buck doing simple, clean guitar/vocal demos of several songs in the place of a fully blown out demo of one song. Remember, you can always go back and add more instruments to a professionally recorded, stripped down demo later if the situation warrants.

By avoiding the above mistakes, you will be removing a good deal of angst from the demo process. It’s always a little stressful getting ready to put your money where your mouth is and the better the decisions you make in advance, the more able you’ll be to enjoy the recording process as you’re going through it.

Good luck!

Bio
Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, session musician, engineer, author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA. Cliff’s site, http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com, is full of resources for the aspiring songwriter and his company, http://www.NashvilleStudioLive.com, provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual access to Nashville’s best session musicians and singers for their songwriting demos.

You can download a FREE sample of Cliff’s eBook “The Songwriter’s Guide To Recording Professional Demos” by going to http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com/ebook.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/EducatedSongwriter
Twitter: edusongwriter

Contributed by: Cliff Goldmacher from Educated Songwriter

Sometimes songs come easy. You sit down and the whole thing pours out of you almost as if you’re simply transcribing it as it’s handed down to you from the heavens. Those are great but I’ve learned you can’t always count on it working that way. The other side of the coin is when songwriting more closely resembles the extraction of a particularly reluctant wisdom tooth…without an anesthetic. This article is about how to deal with those songs. I’m going to offer five different approaches to get you un-stuck and get your song finished one way or the other.

1. Make a Rough Recording of Your Song
   Sometimes all you need is a little perspective. Often when we’re writing a song, we’ll go around and around singing it to ourselves sometimes playing an instrument as we do it. This is a necessary and essential part of the writing process and although it’s helpful while we’re writing, it doesn’t provide us with the listener’s perspective. Whether it’s a song you’ve just been working on or one you’ve played live hundreds of times, if you’re not sure it’s finished, then do a rough recording. By a rough recording, I mean simply sing (and play if you’re also an instrumentalist) the song into your computer, hand-held recorder or even your cell phone and listen to the playback of the recording without playing your instrument or singing along. This simple act of putting yourself in the audience, so to speak, will give you perspective on what is and isn’t working in a way that is impossible while you’re actually singing the song yourself. I’d also suggest printing out a lyric sheet and keeping it in front of you to make notes on as you get ideas from listening to the rough. Finally, I’d recommend the process of making a rough recording, tweaking the song and then making a new rough recording, until you end up with a version of the song that you feel good about. This final rough recording can then do double duty as the version of the song you’ll provide the session musicians and singers so that they can learn your song for the demo session.
2. Play It For Your Songwriting Group
   Still stuck? Sometimes it takes another set of experienced ears to hear the things you’ve been missing. Songwriting groups can be great for this. If you don’t have a songwriting group, not to worry. Most cities have songwriting organizations, open mics and even local coffee houses with live music where you can meet other songwriters. Once you’ve found a few other songwriters whose work you respect, you might suggest getting together once every week or two and showing each other what you’ve been working on. This is a great way to get suggestions on how to refine your material. I’d recommend making a pact to stay constructive. There’s never a point in being unduly negative. You’re all trusting each other with songs that are still in their vulnerable early and unfinished stages. Mean-spirited comments or unnecessarily harsh criticism can cause a potentially superb song to be abandoned on the spot. It’s important to remember that songwriting is still a subjective process and not every suggestion you get will feel right to you. That’s fine. If you get a single suggestion that makes your song better, then the process is working. By the way, if you’re looking for a songwriting organization in your area, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) has chapters all over the country and even overseas. Click here to find a chapter near you.
3. Submit Your Rough Recording to a Critiquing Service
   Songwriting organizations like the Nashville Songwriters Association, The Songwriters Guild of America and Taxi.com offer song critiques to their members. This can be a safe, entry-level way to try out new material on experienced industry ears without risking poisoning the well if the song comes back with a less than glowing set of comments. These same organizations also offer “Play for Publisher” or “Play for A&R” song screenings. I’d highly recommend waiting to submit to these events until you have a song (and, just as importantly, a recording) you feel confident is completely polished. You only have one chance to make a first impression with a publisher or record executive so I’d suggest taking your time, making sure your song is finished and that you have a totally professional demo before you head down that road. While a pro critique can yield some terrific insights, it’s important to remember that songwriting is a subjective process. In other words, take all comments (good and bad) with a grain of salt.
4. Bring in a Co-Writer
   If you feel you’ve got an exceptional idea but truly can’t seem to figure out how to finish it, then maybe it’s time to bring in a co-writer. Many co-writes begin from scratch which is a great way to share the effort of creating a new song but, sometimes, co-writes happen when one writer brings a partially finished idea to another. For example, if it’s the melody that’s got you stuck, then I’d recommend working with a co-writer who has a melodic gift. If it’s the lyric, look for a strong lyricist. The key to co-writing is to find someone who’s strong where you aren’t (and vice versa) so, together, you can come up with something better than either one of you could have created on your own.
5. Put It Away (…maybe forever)
   If you’ve tried everything and your song still just kind of lies there, then it’s time to put it away…maybe even forever. The key to staying productive as a songwriter is not getting too bogged down on any one song. Sometimes songs are meant to be started simply to get you to the next song. Don’t be afraid to leave a song behind and start on something new. Sometimes you’ll come back to it months or even years later and sometimes you won’t. The more songs you write the easier this will become. Promise. While songwriting can certainly be a challenge at times, it shouldn’t have to hurt. It’s up to you to decide whether a song needs one more good effort or an express trip to the circular file.

I’ll leave you with a final random thought:

Often the days you’re dreading working on a song are the days when you make the biggest gains. Always give yourself the benefit of the doubt and sit down and try. If it isn’t happening pretty quickly, then let it go, but if it is, you’ll be doubly glad you made the effort.

Good luck!

Cliff

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, session musician, engineer, author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA. Cliff’s site, http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com, is full of resources for the aspiring songwriter and his company, http://www.NashvilleStudioLive.com, provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual access to Nashville’s best session musicians and singers for their songwriting demos.

You can download a FREE sample of Cliff’s eBook “The Songwriter’s Guide To Recording Professional Demos” by going to http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com/ebook.

Technorati Tags: song writing

Contributed by: Cliff Goldmacher (EducatedSongwriter.com)

For most songwriters in the early stages of their careers, the idea of being hired as a staff songwriter for a publishing company is close to the Holy Grail. It represents that most coveted prize of industry recognition and validation of your talent along with a gateway to cuts, movie placements and any one of a number of other exciting possibilities. However, keep in mind that wanting or entering into a relationship with a publisher in order to simply validate your talent is probably not the best approach. As with any business relationship, it’s essential that you, as the songwriter, understand what you’re giving up as well as what you stand to gain by signing over partial (or complete) ownership of your copyrights to a music publisher.

What is a Publishing Deal?
Let’s start at the top, in general terms, a typical publishing deal involves the assignment of some part of the ownership of your songs to a publishing company in exchange for a monthly payment known as a draw. The publisher can also provide co-writing opportunities based on their industry relationships and pitching opportunities by members of the publishing company’s staff called song pluggers. I’m aware that there are many variations on this arrangement such as no draw in exchange for giving up less ownership of your copyrights to the publisher but for the sake of this article, I’m going to paint in broad strokes.

The Pros
Listing the advantages of a publishing deal is easy as most songwriters have heard (or dreamed) of these.

1. A Draw – For a songwriter getting started in the business, it’s extremely difficult to write full time without having money to live on. The monthly draw provided by a publisher can help ease that burden. While some draws are enough to allow the writer to write full time, most are enough to, at least, make it so the writer only has to have a part-time job leaving more time for songwriting.
2. Demo Budget – Making high quality recordings of your songs is not cheap and having a publisher to put up the money for these recordings can help out quite a bit.
3. Song Pluggers – These are employees of the publishing company who are specifically charged with finding opportunities for your songs. They pitch your songs relying on their relationships with record labels, producers and artists as well as a variety of other music business decision-makers.
4. Networking/Connections – The credibility that comes from signing with established music publisher is a powerful thing. It can open doors to meetings, co-writes and countless other relationships in the industry. Also, publishers have industry-wide relationships that can provide great opportunities for a songwriter who hasn’t had the opportunity to network much on their own.
5. Validation – The validation that comes from a publishing deal is what most beginning songwriters long for. In the early stages of most songwriters’ careers, they’ve most likely written songs in obscurity and with the exception of friends and family they’ve never received praise and recognition from anyone in the industry. It can even act as a motivator to improve a writer’s work ethic and even inspiration.

The Cons

This is where I’d recommend paying close attention. I know the idea of being able to write songs and have your publisher take care of all the details is an appealing thought…but the reality is a bit less simple. Don’t kill the messenger here, but as a friend of mine once said, “They don’t call it the music ‘friend’ or the music ‘nice.’” This is a business and it helps to remember that a publisher is giving you something in order to get something.

1. Your draw & demo budget are essentially loans – The money that makes up your draw and your demo budget is money that the publisher will take back from your share as soon as your songs start generating income. More importantly, unlike a loan paid back to a bank, even after you’ve made back the money to pay the publisher for the money they’ve invested in you, they will continue to own the publishing on your song and make income from it. In most cases, this is an arrangement that lasts for the rest of your life and then some. Also, in most cases that recording that the publisher split with you or loaned you money to make is their property entirely. This translates into no master fee payment for you, the songwriter, if that recording ends up in a film or on TV.
2. You and your songs aren’t always the priority – Even though the idea of a song plugger getting your songs heard is comforting, the reality is that in most publishing companies, there are many more signed writers than there are pluggers. In other words, your songs, while the most important songs to you, are among the hundreds (actually thousands if you count the back catalogs of most publishing companies) that the overworked song pluggers have to consider for every pitch opportunity.
3. Validation is NOT enough – As a songwriter, I understand how good it feels when someone in the industry tells you they love your songs. In and of itself, this is not enough of a reason to give away your publishing. To me, the analogy would be of a guy going up to a girl in a bar and saying “You’re beautiful and you should sleep with me.” In other words, as a writer, you should work every day until you’re confident your songs are good. Use resources like song critiques, songwriting organizations and your songwriting peers to get good, constructive feedback on your material. Don’t just sign with a publisher because they tell you you’re good.

Your Options

My intention is not to discourage but rather to empower you. By not looking at a publishing deal as the only answer to your songwriting prayers, you’ll put yourself in a position to do for yourself which, ultimately, will be the most consistent and rewarding way of having a sustainable career as a songwriter. In other words, you don’t have to have a publishing deal in order to act like you have a publishing deal every single day. Here’s what I mean…

1. Be your own publisher – You don’t need an established publisher to publish your songs. It’s a relatively simple proposition to start your own publishing company through one of the performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC). A simple phone call to one of these three organizations can get you started.
2. Put yourself on a regular writing schedule – If you want to be a professional songwriter, act like one. Set aside regular times to write and treat it like a job. Folks in the working world don’t skip work because they “don’t feel like it” and neither should you.
3. Demo your songs – Develop a relationship with a professional recording studio and when you’re absolutely certain you’ve got a song that’s ready for prime time, spend the money to make a broadcast-quality version suitable for a variety of uses from pitching to artists to placement in film and TV. And speaking of pitching…
4. Pitch your songs – Actively look for opportunities for your songs. It’s one thing to write a good song and have a great demo but if no one hears it, then it can’t possibly generate any income for you. This isn’t the glamorous, romantic part of the business but I promise you, the overwhelming majority of successful songwriters – even those with publishing deals and song pluggers – spend a lot of time pitching their own material. It’s tough out there and you need to do everything in your power to get your songs heard. Also, as I mentioned above, no one will make your songs a priority more than you will.
5. Network – Another less-than-pleasant reality for the gifted, introverted songwriter is that there is no substitute for the relationships you make in the industry. Get out there and meet people. This doesn’t mean you have to be fake or stay up until 3am drinking every night (unless you like that kind of thing). It does mean, however, that you have to find opportunities to interact with the decision-makers in the music industry. A few suggestions of ways to do this might be attending music conferences, songwriter festivals and some of the events sponsored by organizations like the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) or the Songwriter’s Guild of America (SGA).
6. Sign an admin deal – If you’re starting to get some cuts and placements for your songs and the subtleties of copyright law, royalty statements and licensing feel like too much to keep track of or negotiate, then consider signing with a publisher to administer your copyrights. In other words, instead of giving away ownership of 50%-100% of your copyright, give a copyright administrator 15%-25% to “mind the store” while you’re taking care of the other stuff. I promise you, if you’re making money from your songs, you’ll have no trouble at all finding an experienced publisher to administer your copyrights.

Conclusion

For the sake of simplicity, I’ve kept this article and the terms of a publishing deal very general. There are all manner of publishing deals from copyright administration all the way to full ownership of your publishing and there are reasons for and against all of these. Music publishers provide a valuable service in our industry but I think it’s important to realize that signing a publishing deal isn’t always your best option. Be absolutely certain you understand what you stand to gain (beyond the simple validation of your talent) and what you’re giving up to get it. In the world of professional songwriting, there is no one way to achieve success and, no matter what, the more you understand and can do on your own, the better off you’ll be.

Good luck!

Bio

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, session musician, engineer, author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA. Cliff’s site, EducatedSongwriter.com, is full of resources for the aspiring songwriter and his company, NashvilleStudioLive.com, provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual access to Nashville’s best session musicians and singers for their songwriting demos.

You can download a FREE sample of Cliff’s eBook “The Songwriter’s Guide To Recording Professional Demos” by going to EducatedSongwriter.com/ebook.

Technorati Tags: demo, publsihing, songplugger, Songwriting