HI~Arts Music Tip-Sheet 6 - Choosing Your Material

The first thing many bands do is play other peoples material. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with that, in fact it has many benefits. By listening to the work of other artists and working out how to play it yourself, you are learning a lot about arrangements and how your band works. Many bands and singers make a good living from playing “covers”, whether in clubs, at weddings or on cruise ships.

As a solo singer, it’s perfectly possible to launch a successful career this way. The majority of well known singers rely on other writers for their material, so a record company won’t always expect them to be great song writers - there are plenty of writers out there to supply new singers with great songs.

It’s a little different with bands, however. A record company will look for a number of qualities in a band, but the biggest of these is originality. They know the market is always looking for something new, and they want to know they can develop an act into something original or, if not totally original, the best of it’s kind at the time. All this boils down to the fact that ultimately you are going to want to start thinking about writing your own material.

It’s quite common for a new band to play a mixture of covers and originals at gigs to start out with. This is generally because the set wouldn’t be long enough otherwise or because the crowd expects a few known numbers. In this situation, bands should limit the covers to things that suit the band’s style, and try to be a bit different with the arrangements. There is very little point in trying to sound exactly like the original (unless you are a tribute band of course), far better to add a little of your band’s own personality and style to it. Then, start phasing out the covers once you get a fan base and your set of original songs is building up.

You might also know someone who writes words, tunes or both but doesn’t actually want to play in a band. This can be a great partnership – they get their work heard and you get original stuff in your set. Remember though, recording other people’s songs has legal issues you need to be aware of… see the HAIL tip sheets for some FAQs on copyright, or contact HI~Arts if you are in this situation and not sure what to do.