Question about demos for music labels

[MRB Kevin]

Do labels want you to send your own mastered version as a demo or just the mix down version?

[grazz16]

They want a mastered version, and they want it as close to perfect as you can get it. Be honest with yourself and really listen to see if you have achieved the level of quality your favourite producers have, or at least close to it. Spend lots of time on your mix downs. This is one of the hardest things to do as a producer imo. If not, I'd recommend not sending things out to labels until you do.

And thats NOT because you won't get signed, if the idea is good enough you probably will get signed, however the more you learn the more you will be constantly looking back and going "damn, i wish those tracks sounded better." Remember, it takes 3-8 months+ from the time you send the track to the time it gets released. That is a LONG time where you have lots of time to improve. It kind of sucks to look back on something you did 8 months ago and be embarrassed by it only to have that as the latest sample of your work. Better to try and get the quality up right from the start and then start sending to labels.

Easier said than done when you think you got a killer track on your hands, I know :P

[MRB Kevin]

Thanks for the info
Another question..whats the process for getting a track signed?

[MRB Kevin]

thanks for the info :-)
whats the process for getting a track signed?

[amadeus]

Do labels want you to send your own mastered version as a demo or just the mix down version?

No.

Labels just want a good of a mix down as possible, generally with a good amount of headroom, but no they don't want it mastered. The label probably have a preference of which mastering engineer they want to use, and so you attempting to master it yourself is pointless.

Just really work on getting a good mix down.

Our label only press vinyl for which it would get mastered for. Even if it was digital we'd send it to get mastered.

If you sent say a mastered version to a label, and they released it without going to a mastering engineer, then I would avoid that label. They obviously don't care, or don't want to spend the money to get it mastered themselves, and considering it really isn't that much to have it done, it's just careless.

[grazz16]

No.

Labels just want a good of a mix down as possible, generally with a good amount of headroom, but no they don't want it mastered. The label probably have a preference of which mastering engineer they want to use, and so you attempting to master it yourself is pointless.

This is just bad advice imo.

I would never dream of sending an unmastered demo to a record label for a number of very simple reasons:

1. Whereas in the end some labels do have their own mastering engineer, some don't have 1 preferred guy and simply expect you to cover the mastering yourself or at least get it done professionally.

2. Most importantly, you still need to show them what the track looks like at its best. If everyone else is mastering their demos and you aren't, then your track is going to seem flat and weak compared to theirs which is going to affect their opinion of the track. Or vice versa, lets say no one is mastering their demos and you are, well then yours is going to stand out in the bunch.

But i can tell you for certain that every producer worth their salt is mastering a demo before sending it to a label, even if its a just a simple job they have done on their own.

[Patch]

I hate to sound so negative, but........

Labels don't want your demo's at all. They won't listen to them unless they already know who you are.

Don't fool yourself into thinking you can send out a bunch of demos and eventually get signed. Those days are practically over.

[amadeus]

This is just bad advice imo.

I would never dream of sending an unmastered demo to a record label for a number of very simple reasons:

1. Whereas in the end some labels do have their own mastering engineer, some don't have 1 preferred guy and simply expect you to cover the mastering yourself or at least get it done professionally.

2. Most importantly, you still need to show them what the track looks like at its best. If everyone else is mastering their demos and you aren't, then your track is going to seem flat and weak compared to theirs which is going to affect their opinion of the track. Or vice versa, lets say no one is mastering their demos and you are, well then yours is going to stand out in the bunch.

But i can tell you for certain that every producer worth their salt is mastering a demo before sending it to a label, even if its a just a simple job they have done on their own.

I think you've got it wrong here, you do a pre master, but this is not a master. At the end of the day if your sending stuff to a label that expect you to master it then it isn't a professional label, or at least one that doesn't want consistency.

It may be different in the digital world, I've had a couple of digi releases both of which were mastered before release not by me but by an ME, I was just expected to do a good mix down basically a pre master. The bulk of my releases have been on vinyl, again a pre master (Mix Down) was required.

I don't have the expertise nor the equipment, same as a lot of producers to be able to do a good job of a master. The job of a producer is not to master, that is why there are mastering engineers who specialise in it. Granted there are some producers who can master too, but you don't see too many on releases.

Again the majority of my dealings as a producer, and as a label owner is vinyl releases, neither of which have I asked to, or asked someone to do a master themselves.

[grazz16]

I think you've got it wrong here, you do a pre master, but this is not a master. At the end of the day if your sending stuff to a label that expect you to master it then it isn't a professional label, or at least one that doesn't want consistency.

It may be different in the digital world, I've had a couple of digi releases both of which were mastered before release not by me but by an ME, I was just expected to do a good mix down basically a pre master. The bulk of my releases have been on vinyl, again a pre master (Mix Down) was required.

I don't have the expertise nor the equipment, same as a lot of producers to be able to do a good job of a master. The job of a producer is not to master, that is why there are mastering engineers who specialise in it. Granted there are some producers who can master too, but you don't see too many on releases.

Again the majority of my dealings as a producer, and as a label owner is vinyl releases, neither of which have I asked to, or asked someone to do a master themselves.

I see, vinyl might be different then i have no idea. For straight up digital releases you can master those yourself, or if you are not confident doing that, get a mastering engineer to do that for you. Personally i can give my tracks a pretty good mastering job, but given the option i would definitely get them done by a professional mastering engineer who knows what they are doing. I've also sent my tracks off to be mastered, for just this reason, and got them back butchered more than a few times as well unfortunately.

I hate to sound so negative, but........

Labels don't want your demo's at all. They won't listen to them unless they already know who you are.

Don't fool yourself into thinking you can send out a bunch of demos and eventually get signed. Those days are practically over.

Completely disagree with this as well. This is best time ever to send demos to labels. In the past you had to physically get a CD or whatever to the A & R guys and hope to god they took the time to take it out of the case, put it in the player, and press play. Now all you have to do is send a Soundcloud link or MP3 that they can easily listen to with no hassle, and more importantly YOU CAN TRACK!

Thats so awesome, Soundcloud will let you know who has played your track and how many times even. Thats amazingly convenient because now you know exactly who does and who doesn't listen to demos. And i can tell you, whereas some labels don't actually listen to demos, many labels do and will even respond with feedback. But as my original post stressed, make sure the quality is there before you even bother.

[amadeus]

I see, vinyl might be different then i have no idea. For straight up digital releases you can master those yourself, or if you are not confident doing that, get a mastering engineer to do that for you. Personally i can give my tracks a pretty good mastering job, but given the option i would definitely get them done by a professional mastering engineer who knows what they are doing. I've also sent my tracks off to be mastered, for just this reason, and got them back butchered more than a few times as well unfortunately.

I just can't see a label not wanting to get it mastered by who they prefer, to me this doesn't make sense. To me a pretty good job of mastering isn't good enough, I want it to sound its best. Mastering engineers have the facilities to get the best out of your mix, I know I couldn't do a mastering job as good as any of the mastering engineers I've dealt with.

If a label doesn't want to put the money behind your tracks to get them mastered by an ME, then I wouldnt bother with them. If this is the case of a lot of labels asking producers to master tracks, then I just don't get it. No wonder quality control on beatport is shocking.