By Sean Dewberry
The cost of a demo....
A lot of bands I've come across (and some I've been
in) have had the problems of being able to finance
a demo cd. Most band people think they dont have the
cash to get a quality recording done, and some may
not realistically have the money to put up for a good
recording. They then settle for a low quality recording
that is free or very cheap (usually done by a friend),
and in turn, they sell this inferior product to the
people that show up and see them play.
In my eyes, this is a HUGE mistake.
This recording is probably the first thing people
will ever own by your band. This recording is what
they will base going and seeing you again on. This
is what all of their friends are gonna hear before
ever seeing you in person. Most normal people are
going to hear this and pass judgement that you are
not very good and they will not go to see you play.
You have to remember, most people don't listen for
musical integrity (only musicians do that). The masses
listen for musical clarity. Can they make out the
bass from the guitar? Are the drums balanced in the
mix? Can you hear the singer at all? Yeah, you may
sell a ton of these low quality recordings at your
shows, but how many do you think you're gonna sell
to people that haven't seen you? Not very many.
There are a ton of low budget recording studios that
do high quality work for a relatively cheap price.
You can generally finance a quality recording for
$150 per song (at least thats what I've found in the
past). So lets break that down:
4 songs = $600
5 members in the band = $120 per person
If your band members can't save for 2 months and
come up with $120 each, then your band has bigger
problems than a demo cd is gonna fix. With the money
you have now put into this recording, you can sell
it at shows and not worry what people are going to
think. The quality will be good, so when your fans
play it for their friends, chances are, they aren't
gonna hate it right from the start. Some may actually
love it and want a copy for themselves. As an added
bonus,this new "quality recording" is more
likely to get you that show out of town you've been
hoping for.
Just as an example, my band, Knee Deep and Drowning,
paid $600 for a 5 song demo. We have played a total
of 2 shows with having this new demo recorded and
sold about 30 cds at those shows total. Since playing
those shows we have now moved 150+ cds just by word
of mouth. No promoting...no marketing...just quality
product. As a contrast, my last band did the cheap
recording thing and sold 50+ at the first show we
had them....we sold absolutely 0 outside of shows
simply because the recording wasnt very good.
Anywho, I hope this helps making that decision of
whether or not to pay for that demo a little easier.
And as usual, this article is strictly MY opinion
based on MY experiences in the past.
