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Reasons Why Most Demos Get Rejected.

September 15, 2009 by Producers Live
Filed under Industry Info



10 Reasons Why Most Demo Recordings are Rejected

by Christopher Knab

“Getting a deal” has long been the goal of many would-be artists and bands. For mostly naive reasons, most new talent feel that by securing a recording contract with a significant major or independent label, success will be guaranteed. (talk about naivete). Even in this new era of “do-it-yourself” career building, many musicians figure all they have to do is send off their demo to a label, and a recording contract will come their way .

The following list of ‘10 Reasons Why Demos Are Rejected‘ was gathered together after years of listening to comments made by Record Label A&R reps at music industry conferences and workshops; as well as from personal interviews with reps, and from many interviews A&R reps have given to the press. In addition, I can verify that these observations as true, from having personally listened to thousands of demos over the years.

Since there is little I can do to stop anyone from ‘demo shopping’, (which I truly believe is a waste of time these days) the least I can do is try to improve the odds that your music will get listened to if you do send out your demos. This list will look at the most common mistakes musicians make when either shopping for a record deal, or trying to get the attention of A&R Reps with their demo recordings.

10 Reasons Demos are Rejected:

1. No Contact Information on CDR and/or CDR container
(put your name, address, email, URL, MySpace address, and your phone number on both)

2. Lack of Originality (just because you can record, doesn’t mean your music is worth recording)

3. The Music Is Good, But The Artist Doesn’t Play Live ( this applies to all genres of music except electroninca and experimental music)

4. Poorly Recorded Material ( so you bought ProTools….so what!)

5. Best songs are not identified or highlighted on the CD or the CDR
( send only 3 or 4 songs and highlight the best ones)

6. Sending Videos In Place Of CDRs ( keep it simple, in the demo mode, all anyone wants is to check out your songwriting and musicianship. If you want to send a link to a video you have put-up on YouTube, that would be a better idea then sending a video disc or tape.)

7. Sending Unsolicited Recordings (you sent them, but they never asked for them…which means they will probably mail them back to you.)

8. Sending The Wrong Music To The Wrong Label (you didn’t do your research to find out what labels put out what kind of music, did you?)

9. Musicians Can’t Play Their Instruments Competently (this is so basic, but you would be astounded at how incompetant most start-up musicians are)

10. The Music Sucks (this criticism is as old as music itself. you may think your music is the greatest thing since frappacinos, but most demo recordings the industry receives are as bad as the first round contestants on American Idol) 


Christopher Knab is an independent music business consultant based in Seattle, Washington.

source: www.onlinemusicproduction.com

Death of recording studios?

Written by J Appleby
Wednesday, 29 July 2009 18:27

Will economic recession and affordable access to music technology tools overcome the want for expertise, camaraderie and resource of the traditional recording studio? J Appleby gets industry opinion from America about the death of recording studios, but more importantly the death in the quality of music at large.

To create the best sound recordings and mix with maximum control, a proper recording studio with professional engineering has been labelled as essential. However, there are some musical styles which don’t need that sophisticated sound - R&B, Hip Hop and Trance.

Some artists need the space of a major studio to track large sessions and those studios will always have work. But there are artists that choose to produce music that can be created with just keyboards, samplers and drum machines.

Christopher Cooper, owner and producer of Blue Seven Audio in San Francisco, said: “As an engineer with high standards, I’m a little biased toward supporting professional studios. There are more studios, however, that are finding the middle ground between the... (click link for more)

http://www.northamptonbands.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=825:death-of-recording-studios&catid=41:opinion&Itemid=81

Shame on you, RIAA

RIAA Disgrace. Shame on you.

http://www.buzzradio1.com/jury-awards-675k-in-boston-music-downloading-case/

Source: Yahoo.com

BOSTON – A federal jury on Friday ordered a Boston University graduate student who admitted illegally downloading and sharing music online to pay $675,000 to four record labels. Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., admitted in court that he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. The only issue for the jury to decide was how much in damages to award the record labels.

Under federal law, the recording companies were entitled to $750 to $30,000 per infringement. But the law allows as much as $150,000 per track if the jury finds the infringements were willful. The maximum jurors could have awarded in Tenenbaum’s case was $4.5 million.

Jurors ordered Tenenbaum to pay $22,500 for each incident of copyright infringement, effectively finding that his actions were willful. The attorney for the 25-year-old student had asked the jury earlier Friday to “send a message” to the music industry by awarding only minimal damages.... click on link for full story

Royalty Payments and YOU!

Royalty (payment) In the law of property, term used to designate payment analogous to rent made for the use of the property of another. The owner of lands containing mineral resources, such as petroleum or coal, who permits another to extract these products generally receives a royalty, or payment, consisting of a percentage of the production for petroleum or a fixed dollar amount per ton for coal. The owner of a patent or copyright may license others to use the patented item or to reproduce, change, distribute, perform, or display the copyrighted creative work. For example, royalties may be paid to a writer, composer, or inventor as a share of the proceeds resulting from the sale, performance, or other use of his or her work or invention.

Radio Interview ~ Buzz Radio

An update to remind you to tune in to BUZZ RADIO @

http://www.buzzradio1.com/listening-lounge/

Time: 7:00PM Wednesday, July 29th
(That's Pacific Standard Time, folks)

DiMA Comment on SoundExchange and Pureplay Webcaster's agreement

Source:
http://www.digmedia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=55

DiMA Comments: SoundExchange and Pureplay Webcaster Rate Agreement

Washington, D.C. (July 7, 2009) – Jonathan Potter, Executive Director of the Digital Media Association (DiMA), issued the following statement.

“We are pleased that today’s royalty agreement between SoundExchange and pureplay webcasters will provide some relief from the crushing royalties that were imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board.

For many years one of DiMA’s top priorities has been to level the competitive playing field for Internet radio companies as compared to competing radio services, and today’s agreement is a step in that direction. We are particularly pleased that the new license is available to all commercial pureplay webcasters – including large pureplay webcasters.

DiMA anticipates that some of our members will take advantage of this new license, and so we again express our appreciation of the efforts of Congressional Internet radio supporters, including Representatives Jay Inslee, Don Manzullo, Zoe Lofgren, Rick Boucher and Senators Ron Wyden and Sam Brownback. We also thank Judiciary Committee leaders such as Chairman John Conyers, Jr. and Ranking Member Lamar Smith who supported passage of the Webcaster Settlement Acts of 2008 and 2009.

As Congress continues to focus more broadly on sound recording performance rights legislation, it continues to be our hope that comprehensive legislation will once-and-for-all level the playing field and ensure that all forms of digital radio are treated alike, so that consumers can choose among radio services based on the quality of their programming and service, and not have competition limited by discriminatory royalty rates.”



DiMA is the ambassador for the digital media industry: webcasters, online media, digital services, and technology innovators. DiMA advocates for business and regulatory environments that support our members’ growth and success, including fair competition, fair royalties, innovation and consumer welfare.

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An Agreement?

·Jul 7, 12:48 PM
Posted by: Kurt Hanson

Source: http://textpattern.kurthanson.com/kurtsblog/720/behind-the-new-pureplay-webcaster-license

Finally, for the first time ever, Internet radio stations have a royalty deal that is reasonably viable and extends for a reasonably-long period of time.

The specific part of the Internet radio industry that this particular deal saves are the webcasters who are (A) larger than hobbyists — i.e., who have aspirations of earning more than $1.25 million in revenues per year — but (B) are not wholly-owned divisions of multi-billion-dollar companies (e.g., AOL & Yahoo and CBS & other terrestrial broadcast groups).

In other words, the set of webcasters who may be able to benefit from this agreement includes webcasters like Pandora, AccuRadio, Digitally Imported, Radioio, and potentially dozens of other companies — really, anyone who wants to get into webcasting as a real business.

Comment: (from article)

What about the $25,000 minimum that’s due back from 2006? Why is nobody talking about that? How could anyone in these negotiations agree to that? Unless this is a way to squeeze out the little guy which is what SoundExchange has always wanted to do. This deal let’s down alot of broadcasters.

— Mark · Jul 10, 09:22 AM

Comment from author:
Seems the smaller stations haven't much room on this bus, eh?
Charges pending? How deep is the small broadcaster's pocket?
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Sources:

http://textpattern.kurthanson.com/crb/704/senate-passes-webcaster-settlement-act-of-2009

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-7084

Senate passes Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009
Posted by: Paul Maloney
June 18, 2009 12:44 PM

The Senate unanimously passed the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 yesterday. The bill now heads to the desk of President Obama. The legislation would grant SoundExchange and webcasters an additional 30 days from the date it becomes law to agree upon new a royalty rate.

The original Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 passed in October of last year and set a deadline of February 15, 2009 (RAIN coverage here).

SoundExchange was able to sort out royalty agreements with some groups of webcasters, but failed to do so with others — including “pureplay” webcasters, small commercial webcasters, and religious broadcasters. The new Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 would provide an extra 30 days to reach deals with these webcasters.

RIAA Notebook ~ Current Standoff

10/21/08
Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1202425402074

*There is a lot of Good Information on this link...

It's no secret that the old ways of doing business in the music industry are dying. CD sales are plummeting. Online piracy and counterfeiting are robbing artists of income. Meanwhile, Internet radio is booming. About 60 million listeners tune in to an Internet station every month, according to a 2008 report by JP Morgan North, American Equity Research. That's up from about 15 million listeners just three years earlier. One of the most popular Internet music sites and iPhone software applications, Pandora, creates personalized stations for listeners and is expected to bring in $25 million this year.

Some Webcasters say there's a big problem. The performance royalties that Internet radio stations must pay to broadcast music are so high, Webcasters say they're being forced out of business. They warn that if the rates aren't lowered, the entire music industry, from musicians to music lovers, will suffer. The Webcasters have done more than complain. They've formed a coalition with small record labels and listeners. They've won support from senators and congressmen, who have introduced legislation aimed at overturning the royalty rates. They've sponsored a day of silence in protest.

SoundExchange has negotiated deals so that some Webcasters can pay lower rates temporarily. And negotiations continue with the Digital Media Association, a trade association that negotiates royalties for its members. But ultimately, it will be up to Internet broadcasters themselves to find business models that turn a profit. For now though, predicting what's ahead for the digital music industry is difficult, if not impossible.

RIAA Notebook ~ A Challenge Arises

A CHALLENGE ARISES 9/26/2000
Source: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-246239.html

A growing number of voices in the artist and technology communities are questioning whether the RIAA is taking too prominent a role in this process. Some groups are discussing challenging the RIAA-organized collective's power in front of the U.S. Copyright Office, which is ultimately responsible for selecting an agent to distribute the royalties.

The dissatisfaction underscores what continues to be a contentious three-way relationship between the record industry, technology companies and the artists whose work supports both businesses.
These groups, which include trade associations and lobbying groups for Webcasters and independent artists, are concerned that an RIAA-dominated group would not represent the interests of independent artists should there be a conflict between artists and labels.
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Question: How does SE complete/coordinate with ASCAP or BMI?

In traditional radio, the record companies don't get paid royalties every time a song is played. Instead, the composers or publishers of a song get a small royalty, which is collected and distributed by groups such as ASCAP and BMI.

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RIAA Notebook

RIAA NOTEBOOK

10/09/2000
Source: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/hardware/0,39042972,13029780,00.htm

The (RIAA) Recording Industry Association of America on Friday christened its long-planned group for distributing Webcasting royalties, naming it "SoundExchange."

The need for this group stems from the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which for the first time requires Webcasters to pay royalties. The music industry and technology companies have collectively been unable to come to terms on what this rate should be, and no group is yet officially in charge of collecting these fees. The record industry is the only group that has stepped forward in the United States to create such an organization, but it ultimately must be certified by the U.S. Copyright Office.

This excerpt is from the SoundExchange website *(Solicits sign up)

(SRCOs) Sound Recording Copyright Owners are individuals or entities (typically record labels) who own the sound recording copyright under U.S. Copyright law (sometimes referred to as the “master” rights to a sound recording) or have the right to license the public performance of a sound recording by means of a digital audio transmission.

"Please note that if you are an independent recording artist, you may own the “master” rights to your sound recordings if you have not assigned them, for example, to a record label" (And, if so, make sure you register with SoundExchange as both featured artist AND copyright owner).

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Source: http://www.soundexchangeblog.com/?page_id=2

SoundExchange is an independent, nonprofit performance rights organization that is designated by the U.S. Copyright Office to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for featured recording artists and sound recording copyright owners (usually a record label) when their sound recordings are performed on digital cable and satellite television music, internet and satellite radio (such as XM and Sirius). SoundExchange currently represents over 3,500 record labels and over 31,000 featured artists and whose members include both signed and unsigned recording artists; small, medium and large independent record companies; and major label groups and artist-owned labels.

Prior to 1995, Sound Recording Copyright Owners (SRCOs) in the United States did not have a performance right. This meant that, unlike their counterparts in most of Europe and other nations around the world, recording companies and artists were not entitled to receive payment for the public performance of their works. Users of music, the digital music service providers, freely performed these works at will, without a dime being paid to the rightful owners of those recordings or the featured artists who performed the songs – the recordings which created the backbone of their business.

The Digital Performance in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 changed that by granting a performance right in sound recordings. As a result, copyright law now requires that users of music pay the copyright owner of the sound recording for the public performance of that music via certain digital transmissions.

The U.S. Copyright Office recognized the benefits of SoundExchange’s administration of these royalties, and so has designated SoundExchange as the administrative entity for subscription services’ statutory license fees.

You may find SoundExchange’s Notice of Designation as Collective Under Statutory License here. The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) was established by Congress in 2004 to set fair market rates to be paid to recording artists and record labels under the statutory license. The CRB reaffirmed SoundExchange’s sole collective status in 2007.

*End of quote from source.

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Define: What are Performance Rights Organization

http://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/4/17/performance-rights-organizations-what-about-them.html

How to join a PRO (Performing Rights Organization)

http://www.ehow.com/how_2038730_join-performing-rights-organization-pro.html

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Widgets...

Feel free to examine the first "Widget" placed on this BLOG PIE. (The one playing the music). The widget below is a sample of the variety and means to communicate your music to the universe. One of many ways. A clean and efficient tool that immediately links the listener to your space.

We are afloat in an ocean of binary bits, bobbing on a digital sea. Man, learn how to swim! Go ahead and play with it, press some buttons and press some tabs. You will find yourself reading, listening and learning about your favorite bands antics and schedule, not to mention the usual FREE download, and MP3 samples.

Buddha Pie favors "Reverbnation" and considers it a vital site for musicians to promote what is theirs for your enjoyment and pleasure. It is one of the best out there. Use it, you will find yourself in agreement with me. Yeah, Reverbnation Rocks!

In the meantime, poke around and enjoy our music. Buddha Pie will not be performing until the Spring of 2009.

See you then with a set of NEW SONGS.

Let me Introduce to you...

Let me introduce to you another part of me.

My name is Ernest Patrick Paiz. Music is the staying force in my life. I share it with you, as I should. In association with PODCAST PIE, this BLOG will serve as a source of information that will be shared. The contents relayed are gathered by experience.

The links, websites, tips, and guidelines are all the tools that I have used and discovered. They are here now for my friends, artists and fellow musicians.

Ernest Patrick Paiz
Enjoy the music.