A band’s demo and any accompanying info are equivalent to their business card. In most cases the main objective of a demo is to act as an accurate reflection of the band and its music with the intention of creating some kind of interest. This interest may be from the general public or the music industry, either way your demo will often be your first means of contact with people. With this in mind it is essential to present it in a way that reflects you and your music but most importantly it is the songs that count. Everything else is secondary so it is wise to choose your tracks carefully….
 

Choosing the songs
The tracks and the running order that you choose for your demo are extremely important - more so than you may think. The following are a couple of tips on how to programme the songs

1. Do not put more than three songs on the demo. You do not want to over expose yourself on first contact - if somebody is impressed by what they hear they will ask you for more material
2. Put the songs in the following order, track 1. - your best song, track 2. - your second best song, track 3. - your third best song. You want to interest the listener straight away thus encouraging them to continue and listen to the other tracks. A lot of A & R have so little time that they may only listen to 10-20 seconds of each track. With this is mind, choosing songs which have an immediate impact is recommended. If your best song is a slow building tune that lasts for over five min’s then consider holding it back. If you are asked for more then you will get the opportunity to let them hear it then.
    

Having chosen your track listing you need to prepare any accompanying material that will be sent with you demo. Something that can play an important part in getting your demo heard is the packaging and presentation. This is not always the case but it is much better to present the demo in an original fashion - this gives the recipient a better idea about the band’s persona and where they are coming from.
 

Presentation
The presentation of your demo is an artistic process and it plays a part in how you will be perceived by the people who receive it. If you are sending it out to venues or record companies you have to bear in mind that they receive a large quantity of demos from bands in your position on a daily basis. Some will listen to everything they receive whilst others may not. Some important things to remember when preparing the visual content of your promo/demo pack are………

Your demo needs to look well produced. You do not have to pay lots of money for impressive printing to achieve this. Try and be a little bit different with how you package the CD. People need to know that you are serious so putting in the effort to make it look appealing will make this more apparent. Don’t be afraid to make your own packaging - this allows you more artistic expression and will make it more original. This in turn will make it stand out from all of the others, which is ideal.

Information. You need to include certain details on every demo that you submit. Make sure that the name of your band and more importantly a contact telephone number or email address is written on both the packaging and the CD itself. In a lot of cases CD’s will get separated from their covers so it is important that you do this. Imagine if somebody likes your music but has no way of getting in contact with you or finding out who you are!!
 

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