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.
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Sound Quality of Your Demo CDs Make a Difference |
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