Y100720DP -- CONTEMPORARY POP/DANCE SONGS

[evanmcgill]

I'm fairly new to TAXI and (I guess compared to most people here) fairly new to writing. I think my biggest confusion with these listings (I usually look at Record Label Pop, A/C and Country) is what kind of demo is going to make it through and if the song has potential, will they shoot you down because you aren't that good of a producer and your demo is good, but far from great.

I think looking at this listing and I have a song that fits it, but the demo is OK. I'm not Dr. Luke!! Everything I've learned tells me a studio band will basically do the song over if they sign it. Yes? No?

Any feedback on demos and what is acceptable would be appreciated. Thanks!

[mazz]

The thing that tips me off in this listing is this line: Vocal and instrumental presentation must be top-notch and sound current for this genre!

That tells me that they may be looking for "plug and play" stuff that they can take and put their vocalist on top of. At the very least, they want a fully produced demo that showcases not only the song but the style and the production aesthetics of the artists they reference so that there is no "guesswork" in the process.

In this particular genre, a piano/vocal demo often won't cut it, unfortunately.

But I'd call TAXI make sure they want something fully produced, don't take my word for it.

Good luck!

Mazz

[evanmcgill]

I hear ya. Makes sense for Dance Pop. What % of Taxi listings DO YOU BELIEVE want fully produced demos at submission? Thanks again.

[mazz]

I think a pretty high percentage do. For artist pitches for country, I've heard that you can get away with piano/vocal or guitar/vocal, but both the instrument and the voice need to really sell the song, particularly the vocalist. But these days, with lots of people being able to produce killer demos themselves, the competition is stiff and the producers know it and they've gotten used to hearing great home produced demos. Of course a great demo of a not so great song won't help the song much, but if the song is undeniably great, then the demo should help support that anyway.

Think of a demo like a job interview, with the production of that demo being the clothes you choose to wear to an interview and the song as your resume. You spend a lot of time on your resume getting it just right, but if you show up in shorts, T-shirt and the resume hand written on a yellow legal pad with coffee stains, it probably won't matter how great your resume is at that point!

That's the reality these days!

Mazz