It's really important to know how other people perceive your band and music. Image is really important. You may have the best song in the world, yet your image (your style and look) may not work with the song you've wrote. This section deals with image and song writing leading to a demo and a great promo pack.
Firstly, your song. Let's talk money and the people who want to put their hands in their pockets and actually
PAY for your efforts. Now then, would you REALLY buy a CD from someone you didn't really think were that good?… NO YOU WOULDN'T… and that's human nature and quite right too. The music industry is not a charity, in fact it's a money making business like any other. And if your 'product', just like washing up
powder or brand of shoe, isn't 100%, then you can't really expect the general public to buy it!. Now then, your song and the demo of your song has to be good. Not just ok, but really cool. It's important to record a great demo, good quality, very catchy material and a promo pack with an image to suit the style of the song.
This is the way to go. Here are some pointers worth bearing in mind when writing that 'hit' and sending your demo to someone.

Song writing technique
The best part of any song is the part that sticks in your head 3 days later and wont go away no matter how hard you try. It's a 'hook', that part of the song you find yourself whistling to without even realising it!. You're walking along the road and you start going ' lar de dar de dar….' , yes, it's got you alright!.. you may even start walking in the direction of your local record shop and buy it.. Now then, what if that was your
song! And someone wanted to buy it, that's a sign of a good song.
Hooks are simple!… DO NOT go down the road most musicians go, trying to impress their muszo friends by playing guitar at 3 thousand miles per hour 'Eddie van hallen' speeds. NO NOT try to impress your other friends by making your song so interesting that you lost the plot 30 seconds from the start, make it simple,
the best songs ever recorded always are simple, remember that.
A solid melody and a catchy tune, works every time, choruses that repeat, and a bit in the middle (middle 8) that makes sense and breaks the mould. These are the ingredients of a good song. I personally make sure the main vocal melody is rock solid, no ifs or buts, that's the melody and don't you forget it.. Think of the actual notes your singing, not just a load of words with some sort of vague tune that keeps changing, but a really simple pattern to it. It's almost like a nursery rhyme only for grown ups!. That's
my way of doing things. Also a very simple, but solid drum and bass backing helps too. It's important to get good quality sounds on your demo. Don't overcomplicate your drum patterns, there's really no need and actually, it can effect the point of the song by loosing the main feature, the melody and hook. Over complicated drums or other instruments of your demo can distract from the song itself. So again, keep it simple.

Words and lyrics, well, I really can't comment at this point, we are all different, and that's what makes songwriting and songwriters interesting. If we all sang about the same things in life, songs would all sound the same and be very boring. All I will say is, follow your inner heart!, by that I mean write songs about what you know about, write about things that effect you, things you like or dislike. It's got to be real in your head, don't just make up a story (unless you're an excellent story writer), it's far better to write about things that have happened to you or are happening to you now. No matter how shocking that may be, get it on paper!. You may have a hit on your hands. Lots of topics, love, money, work, drink, relationships, war…. Whatever it is, it's yours!. Remember to avoid direct descriptions of things, try to describe things in a round-about way. This makes lyrics more interesting and more imagination is needed from the listener, making it more impressionable on the brain. Let the listener paint their own picture of what you are singing about, don't be too precise. Let me give you an example.
You may think and want to say "last night I saw the moon and it was red, I didn't expect to see that, doesn't happen very often does it?"
Maybe you could re-write that in a song like "one time I saw the moon red, still shocked I often wonder"
It's less descriptive, yet is sort of makes the same point, only now it's wide open to imagination by the reader.
More poetic.
Ok, and now your demo songs list.

Demo's should have no more than 3 songs on them in this order or as close as you can.
Track No1 - Your BEST song, it's a hit, everyone says so, yeah, that's the one you can't forget!
Track No2 - This is what you are working on today, it's what you are doing now. It's you now.
Track No3 - Ok, now the future, this is what you think your band will sound like next year! Look forward and project your music into the future. Experiment.
Remember this, your No1 best ever song should not have an intro lasting more than 15 seconds!… That's really important from the listeners point of view. Get to the point quickly ok, no messing about with 60 seconds worth of dramatic keyboards or funny noises ok.
Make your songs interesting!!!!, by that I mean, don't copy anything that's going around in the charts or MTV. Be yourself, and be different. If you record a song that sounds like Oasis, you WILL be branded as sounding like them. You'll always have that around your neck! And you won't get signed! A&R are always looking for new and fresh sounding bands, don't look back and copy, look forward and create! New ground, new vision and a new bank balance!
Ok, your demo tape is excellent!, now the pack to go with it.
At this point can I suggest you may also read over the 'sex, drugs and rock n roll' section. Mainly because I cover a lot of the subject there. However, here's some more pointers..
Your promo pack must reflect the style of your band. It should be to the point and at the same time, fun, interesting and exciting. You don't necessarily need photo's of the band, but if you do get pictures taken, make sure they are exiting and fresh. Don't take pictures of you all looking miserable and serious, even if your songs are serious, you don't have to put people off by looking depressed. There are ways of makin your group photo look serious yet at the same time positive. My best comment would be 'smile' into the
camera and look like a group of people that have known each other for years, best of mates and looking together!.
All the sheets (3 to 5 is good) of your pack should include a contact address, telephone number, email and anything else to get in touch with you. The contact info should be on the CD or Tape label itself too, this is incase the demo gets separated from the promo pack. Include a very brief description of what kind of a band
you are and where you are coming from. If you're a rock band, say so, if you're a midi sequencing dance techno back beat with Ronnie Size in the garage, then say so, it's important to state who you are. Assert your style, include copies of press clippings, comments from magazines, gig dates, name drop. It's all creating a buzz and the A&R love that. Feed them what they want, they love hype and buzz, you need to be the next
best band ever. If you believe that, and you include that in your promo pack, there's a good chance the A&R
will too!. It's all about knowing who you are and where you want to be. It's a fact that most people don't know where they are going in life, they go to work, they come home in the evening, and make money to pay bills. That's normal !!! But if you have that vision of success in your head, and you do have that great demo, it could be you that changes your own life. Being famous isn't impossible, it's actually waiting for anyone who really wants it bad enough.

So, finally..
You have that hit song
You have the demo tape / CD
You have a promo pack
Right, now copy that lot a few times and start letting the industry in on your secret, that being, you are the biggest band ever and you deserve to be signed.

After that, go to the pub and relax, the phone may never ring, you rarely get replies from record companies, whatever happens, don't give up, even if you get absolutely nothing, never give up.

anon author