The music industry’s equivalent of a resume is a demo tape, which is short for demonstration tape. It’s a sample sound recording of a song or songs that a budding artist uses to entice record labels and producers to listen to them. Though demo tapes were almost exclusively made on cassette tapes at first, today either a cassette tape or a compact disc recording can be used.
In the music industry, a demo tape serves two purposes. The tape is necessary for the artist to have their name and sound heard by as many people as possible. These tapes are a way for record labels and producers to weed out artists they aren’t interested in and find the right new artist before another label signs them.
A demo tape’s content is entirely up to the artist or group who records it. Most industry insiders recommend putting only one or two songs on a tape and selecting the most popular with audiences. An unknown artist or group is more likely to have success with a song they’ve performed many times in front of an audience than with a new song they’ve written.
Professionals in the music industry have little time to listen to the hundreds of tapes they are sent, and they may only hear the first 30 seconds or so of recorded sound. As a result, aspiring artists must carefully select their song and manage their sound quality. A demo tape is always accompanied by a name, address, contact phone number, and a brief letter of introduction.
While making a demo tape can be costly, it is an essential form of networking in the music industry. Many demo tapes, however, end up in the trash. Even so, an artist should devote as much time and effort as possible to the quality and professionalism of any tape they send out. Hopefully, the artist’s tape will get past the first set of ears and on to a place where opportunity awaits.