Q & A
Each month, MusicBizAdvice.com answers your questions about the music industry.
Demo Song Selection:
Cover Songs or No Cover Songs?
Q: Is it OK to do a cover song on our demo?
A. If you're a band who writes your own music, why would you want to? Is it that you feel
you don't have enough top-quality material? If that's the case, hold off on recording the
demo until you have more solid material. Unless you're a bar band who needs to play
covers, we don't recommend doing a cover on a demo if your goal is to write and perform
your own songs. Save the studio time and dollars for something that will help you move
toward your goals.
If you still insist on doing a cover, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. Is it fresh? Do you bring something new to the arrangement of the
song? Note-for-note renditions of songs only show you'd be good at karaoke.
2. Do you perform the song convincingly enough to almost make an exec think you
wrote it?
If you cannot unequivocally answer yes to either of those questions, don't do it.
3. Covering someone's "trademark" song is never advised. People will
only compare you to the original artist.
4. And for the love of God, no Stones, Beatles, (are you John, Paul,
George, Ringo, or George Martin?) or "Stairway to Heaven."
Q&A
Home
Got a question about the music business?
Email
your questions with "Q&A" in the subject line. Include your name or
initials, city and state, and the name of your band, if applicable.
Questions of a general nature will be answered as space allows. (Be sure
your spam filter is set to accept email with hyperlinks from talktombadc@aol.com or muzbizadvc@aol.com
so we can let you know your question is answered and can direct
you to additional information if necessary.)
Answers in the MBADC Q&A are to be taken as general advice only and are not intended
as a substitute for legal advice from a competent entertainment or intellectual property
rights attorney.
TOP |
