Date sent: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 02:12:40 EST
Subject: Re: Questions
To: vocalist
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Hi Danielle,

I have worked in and around the entertainment industry for ten years. While
I make my living in the film industry, and sing for fun and passion on the
side, I have friends who went into the music industry and they face the same
thing with music demos as we do with scripts - the amount of unsolicited
material is overwhleming and sometimes it's unbelievable that people actually
think their tapes (or scripts) will get looked at just because they sent them
in, and then they become surprised when the "don't hear back".

I hope you want to sing because you love it and can't imagine doing anything
else with your life. The chances of you becoming a star, or famous, or
well-known, or even being able to support yourself with singing are
completely dependent upon your talent and exposure combined with luck,
perserverance and hardwork. It doesn't happen overnight and most of the real
talents of the singing world aren't discovered on a demo tape by a recording
exec., they're discovered on stage, doing what they love to do. You must be
willing to sing even if your name never, ever appears in lights and you have
to work a second job to stay afloat. You will work hard for years, learn a
whole lot more than you ever imagined, and you will do it because you love
it. If you find success, then that will be the icing on the cake. If
getting "discovered" and becoming "famous" is your goal, and singing is
merely the means to that end, my advice to you would be to search the
bookstores - amazon, b&n, etc. and look for books on how to break through in
the recording industry, try every trick in the book, get an agent and maybe
you, too, can be the next pre-packaged marketing gimmick known as a modern
"star".

If your goal is to become a singer - a talented, learned, nicely-skilled
musician - then stick around here and soak it all up. There's a lot of
information in these posts about singing, about music, about repertoire, and
about making your life's work out of a talent you love more than anything
else.


Good Luck,
Jessica
Los Angeles



In a message dated 12/18/99 6:35:30 PM, DANIaka007-at-aol.com writes:
(snips)
how did
>you
>come to know all that about demo tapes? I know very well that because (not
>only the email:o) I sent one to "sony music 550" and never got anything
>back!
>Is there anything at ALL you can do, something so different that it actually
>gets listening time?? And, if it really, if any, gets 30 seconds listening
>from whoever gets their hands on it, would the better thing to do.....is
>to
>display your talent as much as possible in that time? If so....would it
>be
>smart to belt.....hit higher notes.....put extreme amount of talent as
>possible in it ect.?

In a message dated 12/18/99 3:42:27 PM, JessicaDw2-at-aol.com writes:
>It's very true that record execs are inundated with demo tapes. There's
>no
>one method for getting yours heard above others, but having an agent helps,
>since the exec. has relationships with the agent and will be at least
>somewhat obligated to listen and be able to make comments the next time
>it
>comes up in conversation. Submissions from (reputable) agents are treated
>completely differently from those which come in unsolicited and from
>unknowns. Another way is to have an "in", but not many do. Some people
>try
>neat packaging, but that can backfire, depending on the Exec's personal
>taste. CDs help, since they can show some personal style with the case
>and
>cover. It's a crap shoot. The best thing to do is to just perform. Perform
>anywhere and everywhere you can - do it because you love it, NOT because
>you
>want to be famous - and if you're good, the word will spread. Very, very
>few
>performers are picked up based on an unsolicited demo tape. Demos are
>good
>to have so when someone asks for one you have it to give, but sending an
>unsolicted demo tape to a record exec is tantamount to sending a letter
>to
>Santa Clause. Unfortunately.