Songwriting Demos

Have some songwriting demos made if you'd like to get your songs recorded. These demos usually have to be close to the quality you hear on CDs; so called broadcast quality recordings. These days this level is easier to achieve than ever.

There are several ways to make great songwriting demos:

1. Build a home studio.

Building a home recording studio can be a little expensive but today it's a fraction of what it used to be. And if you're serious about songwriting, sooner or later you'll want to invest in a home studio and learning how to work with it.

In the long run, this is the cheapest and best solution to make songwriting demos.

2. Hire a demo service record your song.

If you don't have a home recording studio, you can have a demo service record your song(s). They will hire you some musicians, singers and a producer and make it from start to finish for you.

If you choose this way, first ensure that your song is something that's really worth recording. If it's not a finished product yet, you'll just waste money.

First, make a thorough song evaluation. Then you might want to ask some friends, musicians and even better - music industry professionals to review your song.

Professional recording is quite expensive so once your song is ready, be careful to choose a demo service that has been recommended to you or has a good reputation.

3. Have a friend or songwriting partner who has a home studio :)

Many songwriters go this way. Look for collaborators who can complement what you can offer.

For example, if you can sing and write good lyrics, your partner could compose music and make a good quality demo in his/her home studio.

Another benefit of this method is that you can put your creativity together and might be able to write even better songs than on your own. The majority of hit songs have been written by two or more songwriters, sometimes more than 5!

4. Become a staff songwriter.

Before they are offered a staff writer deal, songwriters usually have had some success and proven their abilities.

Who are staff songwriters? Publishing companies and record labels hire them to write songs. They submit their songs to the publisher and often they are sat down in a room with some other songwriters and asked to write songs for a specific artist for a specific purpose. They usually get a weekly salary, which is a recoupable advance on the songwriters' future royalties. They might also "work for hire", which means that their work will be owned by the employer.

Although there is fierce competition for these positions, they solve the problem of making demos, because the employer will pay for them or recoup the fee from future earnings.

Once you have your songwriting demos, don't forget to protect them! To copyright your songs, you'll need to submit two copyright applications in case of songwriting demos. One for the song, the second one for the recording. Fortunately, it's relatively cheap to copyright your songs.



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