Add this entry to Your Favorites | [0] Favorites [9] Comments

Please wait...

While you're still waiting for that first song to break through, you may want to re-examine the way you are pitching your tunes.

There are several basic things to check for, before you send a pitch off in the mail.

The package must be put together in a professional manner. I cannot tell you how many song demos I've listen to in my lifetime. And more often than not, I can tell if I'm going to like a song just by the way it is presented. When it comes in an unprofessional looking package, it is usually not a professional sounding song. There are always exceptions to the rule, but the rules are right more often than not.

While I was working in the publishing department of Homeland Records back in the early '90s, I would get songs sent to me on tapes that were completely inaudible. You could not hear the singers words, or the chord progressions. Many times the tapes sounded as though they had been erased at least 20 times before this particular recording was made. These types of recordings were usually accompanied by no lead sheet, or even a lyric sheet.

Here are a few steps that will help every writer present themselves in a professional manner.

1. Don't send tapes. Cassettes are dead. Record companies, professional writers and established publishers, just do not pitch there music in that format any longer. CD's are the most widely accepted format at the present time. But even as we speak, technology is moving forward, and some professional Southern Gospel writers are now pitching their songs on MP3 files, emailing them directly to the intended recipient. Unless you have a good relationship with the person you are sending your song to, do not send cassettes. Now if you are good friends with an artist or producer, and you know that they want to hear a song you just wrote 10 minutes ago, then they might be willing to listen to your work tape. But remember, cassette players are becoming fewer and fewer all the time. You might just send the perfect song to an artist, and they just might have nothing on which to play it.

2. Make sure the demo recording is clean. Listen to it all the way through before you send it. Make sure that every song is present, and in the order that you have labeled it.

3. Make sure there is nothing else on the Demo but your song pitch. This may seem like Kindergarten teaching, but it is a common mistake that many writers make, and I'm as guilty as any of them. When I was just starting to pitch my songs, back in the early '80s, I sent a demo to a Artist. One day the Artist called me at home to tell me they loved one of my songs! Unfortunately, what they had fallen in love with, was a recording of the Freemans that I had not erased from the other side of the tape. And it was not one of my songs at all. I was so embarrassed. You may be too, if you don't listen to the entire recording before you send it.

4. Label the outside of your package with contact information. Send a Lead Sheet or Lyric Sheet. Make sure that the writers name, phone number, email address, and mailing address, are very visible and legible on all copies. Do not send hand written lyrics.

5. After you label your package, and the shell of the CD, label the CD itself with the song titles, and the writers contact information. I cannot stress this enough. Many times an artist or producer will be listening to hundreds of songs. Your CD may get put in someone else's package. Or your package of lyric sheets may get thrown away accidentally, and all that is left is your CD. If there is no information on the disc, and they don't know who you are, even if they love your song, they won't be able to use it. Make it easy for whoever is listening to your CD, to contact you if they need to. Put all the contact information you can, directly on the disc itself.

6. If you can't carry a tune, then get a demo singer who can. The listener wants to hear the correct melody.

7. Avoid pitching demos with helium balloons attached to them, or feathers, or some other off the wall gimmick to get people to notice your package. When I see a package like that, I can almost hear the writer saying "Hey, look at me, I've never had a song recorded before!!!" Professional writers don't pitch their songs that way, and you shouldn't either. Always remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Before I close, I need to make a correction to the article I wrote in March. I said that there were only fourteen HUNDRED songwriters that have ever made any money from writing a song. Tony Rush questioned me about that figure, and upon reexamining my notes, I saw that I had written down the wrong number. The number should have been just over fourteen THOUSAND, not fourteen HUNDRED. These numbers come from the Reinfret Report, that was commissioned by the Songwriters Guild of America, and the Music Business Handbook written by David Baskerville Ph.D.

Until next time, keep writing everything God puts on your heart. He will find the perfect place to use it.

Reader Comments

Add Comments

If you are seeing this form you are not a Member or have not logged in. Why not consider becoming a Member?

Membership allows you to have a prepared signature of your choice applied to every comment you make, as well as the ability to choose an avatar to display next to your name to help identify your posts. Members are also given opportunity to vote weekly in our Weekly Chart as well as special Members Only contests, polls and giveaways during the year. If you are already a member, login here, otherwise please register here.

**Note: Forums membership is a seperate membership.

By posting you agree to our Comments Policy

Name:
Email:
Location:
URL:
Comment:
	Remember my personal information
	Notify me of follow-up comments?
Please enter the word you see in the image below: