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question for you wiley veterans. if you have a song that isn't gender specific, but recorded by a male, do you need to have it done by a female for a listing for a female artist. i would imagine it would improve one's chances, but just curious. remember, there are no dumb questions, just dumb askers!

Quote:question for you wiley veterans. if you have a song that isn't gender specific, but recorded by a male, do you need to have it done by a female for a listing for a female artist. i would imagine it would improve one's chances, but just curious. remember, there are no dumb questions, just dumb askers!A well-demoed, killer song, with a great male vocal, might be forwarded for a female-singer listing. But...I guess you could look at it this way.... if you were a clothes designer, and someone was looking for a certain kind of dress for a female, would you get a man to put on the dress to model it for them, or do you think it would be better if you got a female who could show off the dress more effectively to model it for them?In addition, a song sung by a male is not always in a key that would suit a female voice. Now you can argue that it's "just a demo" but it's like sending a size 8 for someone who's size 4. You are usually asking people (A&R reps, etc) who don't sing & typically aren't musicans, to judge the female potential of a song set for a male and sung by a male...

One book, I think it was Jason Blume's talked about this issue and he discovered that female vocalists might (emphasize that word) record a song demoed by a male singer, but male singers do not (never? No never! Never? Well hardly ever) record songs demoed by female vocalists. So I'd skip the cross dressing, to tread heavily on Vikki's metaphor.

There is only one scenerio where I would suggest not using a female demo singer on a pitch to a female. If you personally know that the singer/artist being pitched to, is not as awesome/perfect for the song, as your demo singer. And especially if you're aware that the artist in question, has complicated feelings of insecurity, about their own instrument. I would then pitch a male version, instead, if I had one. No singer wants to feel like they can't compete with the demo singer's version. But this would be in those special/lucky situations where you actually have a personal relationship to the artist. Quote:One book, I think it was Jason Blume's talked about this issue and he discovered that female vocalists might (emphasize that word) record a song demoed by a male singer, but male singers do not (never? No never! Never? Well hardly ever) record songs demoed by female vocalists. So I'd skip the cross dressing, to tread heavily on Vikki's metaphor.

thanks for the input. i think i really knew the answer before i asked, but thanks for the confirmation. by the way, vikki, thanks for the image of me in a size 14 sundress, you put in my head! talk about driving a point home!