<p>Many folks have wished D. well on her demo so I hope you all dont mind my posting a short update. She recorded her demo in a marathon session last Sat and it came out better than we ever dreamed. We should have the final versions very soon and our copyrites in place. If anyone would like to listen email me and I will send a link when its ready.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your emails. I will be sending a link to jalexis, aspiringactress, clueless, audiB, caromom and rossj so far. If I missed anyone let me know.
I have to wait to get the go ahead to send out...Cant wait to share it with you all!</p>
<p>I want to hear angst! Is she signed with a label yet? How was the recording process? What are her songs like?</p>
<p>hoorah, i'm excited!!</p>
<p>So far she has recorded the 2 originals she wrote and the 1 cover song for the demo.
It took almost a year of going back and forth to get the music, lyrics etc just right.
He liked her voice so much, he asked her to sing a song he wrote as a demo artist so he could send it out also.
Once we get the master demo we have to have it replicated and labels made etc. So this will take a couple weeks.</p>
<p>I will be sending the folks who wanted to listen a link to her music and pictures as soon as he gives me the go ahead, which should be soon (before we get labels etc). It's pretty exciting!</p>
<p>that is so amazing! Remember to think of us little people when she becomes the next "it" girl lol.</p>
<p>congratulations on the demo. it's lots of fun. just remember that there are thousands of others doing the exact same thing. be very careful how much you spend. we've been down this road and i know you don't want to hear anything negative right now and i don't want to sound negative, just be a voice of reason possibly. i remember how exciting it is and it's fun to think of the possibilities. these thoughts can tempt you to go over the top a bit on the duplicating process, artwork, mastering, etc. i'm just suggesting that you be very, very careful about how much money you put into the process. it may end you up with a record deal that makes millions or it may end up as a wonderful souvenier of this time in her life. It is fun and it is exciting and you should enjoy every minute of it. Just be careful whose advice you take. Many people have their own interests at heart, instead of yours. We all think we're the exception and we're the one that will be discovered and that certainly does happen, but mostly it doesn't. I'm sure with her talent, success will come for her. I remember so vividly thinking we'd have a record deal as a teen, and looking back, it seems so naive. I know i sound like a bit of a downer here. That's not my intention. I do remember what a fun thing it was to cut that first cd. And you should enjoy it. But, go into it with realistic expectations and then whatever good things come from it will be very exciting. The only real concern I mean to voice here, is be careful with your money. We spent some real money that was a mistake and if I can save someone else from a similar error, I would like to do so. But, again, congratulations, this is an exciting thing to be doing and so much fun to hear those first recordings come to life.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advise however, aside from the photos we havent spent much of anything. (And they were very reasonable..in fact the photographer was most generous with her time and talent.)</p>
<p>The guy who recorded her and she collaborated with was so impressed with her voice that he has not charged us anything instead opting for a split of potential profits. He has spent hours on this project and they have had a very successful collaboration I would say. </p>
<p>As far as copying and artwork. Originally I was going to do all the printing on a printer I have that copies directly to CD's but the price of places that make CD copies is so inexpensive we are better off going there.
We will be supplying all the artwork for the label. (My other D. is outstanding in working with art and photographs). She designed D's business card and we had it made inexpensively through a printing service. They did a beautiful job.</p>
<p>Another chum found us beautiful folders with CD holders and we paid cost for them.</p>
<p>So really the project has been relatively inexpensive. I did buy some lovely resume paper but would have wanted that anyway. The beauty of it is she is using this as her senior project also. And she would have done it anyway!</p>
<p>BTW though naturally she would love to have a hit record we dont have any delusions about the odds. What we have discovered through this process is she has strong song writing skills, her voice records beautifully and she has a very strong desire.
Once she gets the demo in hand she will be able to use it to help promote herself and hopefully get her foot in the door of where she wants to go.
This will be another learning process as we go along.
The demo itself is a tool to help along the way. If something from the demo catches on...great..but if not there is lots of time and she has lots of desire and will keep working at her craft.</p>
<p>Is your D. a senior ? Also is she going back to Stagedoor? Im going 2 and 3 so mabye we will meet up./</p>
<p>D. is a junior ..She will be 16 soon. I dont know if she is going back to Stagedoor. She certainly enjoyed herself there, however, she does not want to go into MT so she may be better off going to Berklee's summer session or doing something else that will help her in the pop field.
We will have to see.</p>
<p>sounds like you've got things in hand and are moving along beautifully. it can just get so very expensive and of course, there's no guarantee of anything. there are just so many very talented kids who all hope that demo will open a door. but, it sounds like you guys are doing the right things. songwriting is always very important. they love people who can write their own music. the only reason i spoke up is that we did make a couple of expensive mistakes and certainly don't want anyone else to do the same. everyone has to look at their own situation and make those decisions. just wanted to sound a warning to be very careful. we know so many kids who thought that first demo would shoot them to stardom and spent a pile of money only to realize how hard it is just to get anyone to listen to it regardless how good it is. I hope you will be successful with that. I don't have any good advice for the pop field. When we were on that road, it was in the country music field. but, you're right, regardless what comes of this, it will be a teriffic experience and you will learn a great deal. then, if it doesn't turn out exactly as you wish, you will use all this great info as you move forward in her career. you're so lucky to not have a huge recording expense. that studio cost can be expensive. and it's such great experience. and, of course, that demo will be very useful in a number of ways other than getting a recording deal. you'll use it over and over as you promote her. if she performs somewhere, you can even sell them as a mini-cd for $5 or something. of course, you have to be careful about copywrites to do that. but, if your cost is low, this will be a great thing for her. one other note, be very careful about ownership of her songs she's written. be careful to copywrite them. and don't sign anything, ever. i certainly wish you all the best. this is just somewhere i've been, and wanted to pass along anything we learned to someone else who is just starting that process. we have recorded 2 cd's over the past 7 years. it was fun and we certainly do have some regrets. but, it has also been a fun and wonderful thing too. and we will always treasure those cd's.</p>
<p>Hmmm I really like your idea of potentially selling it as a mini CD. Since one song is a cover we cant use that one for that purpose, but the other song is an original by the MP and he said we can use it. And the other two are joint original efforts.
BTW do you know what the rules are regarding posting a cover song online for demo purposes? I am not sure on that and may be able to include that one online. Will have to check.
We are co - copywriting the song with the MP ..As I said he spent hours with her, developed the background music and also tightend up lyrics.If the songs go somewhere..we want him to share in any profits.</p>
<p>Our next step will be finishing it and then as you say..the hard part getting someone to listen who can help her towards her goals.
One step at a time..though we are thinking ahead.</p>
<p>I will be sending a link to defyinggravity, kaysmom, drexel6337, musthcc, jalexis, aspiringactress, clueless, audiB, caromom and rossj so far. If I missed anyone let me know. PM me or just post here that you would like the link and I will put you on the list.
Thanks everyone for your interest and support!</p>
<p>i've posted cover songs many times on my d website. the lawsuits don't come unless you're raking in lots of money for selling someone else's work. but, for demo purposes, no one will bother you.</p>
<p>LOL ...we would not be selling it but I am still not sure what the exact law is..sure would not want to risk a lawsuit.
I know that you CAN use karaoke for demo purposes but thats not what we have..we have a remake of it.</p>
<p>i think as far as a remake, you still have the songwriter and publisher to deal with. even though it's a remake, it's still their work. these laws are complex. i've been told that if it's been put out for sale in the past, it's fair game to record. but, you still are supposed to pay the writer and publisher. but, i'm not a gospel source here. you need to consult a music attorney. even the karaoke companies want payment if you are recording with their product. that info is on their websites if you want to read about it. it's all very frustrating cause it gets expensive. i wish you well. i have a good friend who's knowledgeable in the legal end of it and i've had to call him many times. are you familiar with a mechanical license. this is what you have with your songwriters. but, don't ask me about it, i just don't know enough about it and it's been a few years since we did all that. i'm just mentioning a few things to talk with someone about.......someone who knows this field.</p>
<p>Razorback.</p>
<p>I just wanted to say that I think you have been very generous in sharing your D's experiences with demo recording. People are usually happy to share their kids' successes but I think you are the exception in being willing to share an experience that didn't have the outcome for which you'd hoped, all in hopes of helping someone else. I'm betting that the info you've shared will help many other people you don't even know. Well done!</p>
<p>Sorry if I miscommunicated Razorback. I know that you CAN use karaoke for demo purposes. For a remake you can use it for demo purposes also ..but I dont know what the law would be for using it on the internet because as you say you are still using someones work even if you did it differently. I just know that Karaoke companies allow you to use their work ...but this may not apply to a remake.
So I have to do some research on that.
Regardless we still have 3 orignals we can use online..even if we find we cant use the remake online.
Have to check into that.</p>
<p>Well, you're welcome and i appreciate your comments. And, I do want to help anyone else that I can, because of the expense involved in a process like this. It's one thing to try something that costs a couple hundred dollars. It's another to experiment when you're talking about thousands. I do want to say, though, that we do believe it was successful. I don't want to leave the impression that any of it was a failure. We ended up with 2 fabulous cd's, sold a bunch of them, used them over and over for demo purposes and that recording experience has been invaluable. Ours actually were not demo's but full retail Cd's. And then, of course, our path has totally changed. D started her singing career doing country music (we're in Texas), then after about 4 years of that, realized that her love was standards and broadway, as well as acting. So our focus took an about face and we no longer made any efforts towards a recording contract. So, it really was not so much not getting the outcome we were wanting, as much as just taking a different path. Although, we do realize that it's just a chance in a million for our d, the same as any other, to have received that record deal. The warning bell I wanted to sound was just to be careful about your expenditures. When you're doing this, you think you're going after a record deal (and you are), and it gets tempting to do more and more and make everything the best. People tend to take advantage of parents who want the best for their kids and it's easy to be convinced to spend a lot more than you intended. And, it's just like anything else, it always costs more in the end than you thought it would. The other thing to note is that, when you're going through this, you believe your kid is super talented and all it takes is showing this to the world. What you often don't realize is that those label ceo's have this stuff coming out their ears and don't want any more. It's very, very hard to even get a demo to one of them. And they hear mega-talented people every day. So, you can't be just great, you have to be unbelievable. Now, let me say, I'm making general comments. I've not heard angst's daughter perform so I'm certainly not commenting on her talent. I'm sure, as I believe my d to be, that she's mega talented. It's just that there are a lot of those. And, it takes even more than that. The song selected is probably as important as the voice. There's just so much involved. And I may sound like the voice of experience here, but even with what I've learned, it's just the tip of the iceberg. I know very little compared to the information you actually need access to. But, you still have to start somewhere. And without taking those first steps, you certainly will never get there. When I referred to an expensive mistake, it was a bit of an unusual situation. We saw what looked like an opportunity and decide to take the risk and spend a good bit of money on it. As it turned out, that was a mistake. so, I just wanted to sound a concern regarding those types of situations where you can so easily make a big mistake. but, if you take it slow, don't go crazy with your spending, work with quality people that you trust, you can end up with a nice product and have a great experience. And it sounds like that's exactly what they've done. I hope it's been fun and something wonderful happens for them. We are happy with our current direction and we've had a fabulous time getting there. Gotten to experience a lot of different and fun times.</p>