So you wanna be a Rockstar?? Hell, who doesn’t.. just imagine, fast cars, jetting all over the world, people fussing over you wherever you go, money being thrown at you. Oh yeah, that’s the good life!! Now let’s get back to reality. Being a rockstar is hard work, REAL hard work but the public only get to see the rewards, not the beaten track to those rewards.
When a new artist hits the airwaves & the tour circuit we often look at them with envy & think.. “wow, they’re so lucky, that should be me” We assume that they woke up one day, made a demo & got signed so most musicians go out, spend money, make a demo, or two, or three in the hope of reaching those dizzying heights. Fact is, most artists spend several years working on their music before they are discovered & for those lucky few that are signed to deals, they’re often not all they’re cracked up to be.
For those of you who have not heard of The Bird & the Bee go & check them out. They are fairly new to my ears, I saw one of their tracks on Rage “Would you be my F*cking boyfriend”. Now this is not really a mainstream track, what with those lyrics & all but they have a lovely sound about them & there is a remixed, clean version floating around. These are seasoned musos who spent 3 YEARS putting together this project. That’s the reality of music. If you want to make good quality music that will stand the test of time you need to put in the long yards.
Now for all those artists starting out & thinking about making a demo to send to a record label here are a few facts before you go ahead & spend your hard earned cash.
* Record labels no longer accept unsolicited material. They do not have the time to sort through thousands of wannabe artists. You are most likely to get a listen if you have a friend inside who will speak on your behalf & recommend your music.
*If you are able to get through the door & have them listen to your music be prepared for them to ask you to make changes. Chances are they may like what they hear but they will tell you to go away & fix things up. This does not mean you are guaranteed a deal when you get back. They may well send you away several times to change things.
*Very few people these days are getting album deals off the street. The reality is it’s not what you know it’s WHO you know. Think Lily Allen, her daddy is actor, comedian Keith Allen & mommy dearest is film producer Alison Owen. This may not mean anything to you but it helps to know people in high places.
I will leave you to ponder this for now. Next time we’ll talk further about getting your demos heard & how to be cost effective when making your demo.
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