Monday, June 30, 2008

Getting back to demo bands

Question: How long do you guys usually take to get back to bands that have sent demos in? Is it a long process or do you guys usually snatch up the ones you want right-off the bat? From:


Answer: Like most labels, we dont have time to get back to you all,cos we are swamped- unless we are showing "interest"- it can take us up to 3 months to cotton on to your band, so if you hear nothing by then, you plainly didnt grab us.I've explained here before that most demo bands are pretty decent, but it takes something extra- like hearing good things about you from other sources,like from folks whos opinion we respect, or reading a great review online etc to grab our undivided attention...Roughly speaking we probably approach 10 to 12 bands a year,proclaiming "interest" and from them, we aim to sign maybe 4 or 5 acts- its common that other labels make rival offers to bands we are taking to, or often bands prefer to go it alone, DIy style..also some bands think they are Led Zeppelin and want financial conditions that dont match our assessment, also some dont feel comfortable with a record deal at all (which always baffles me, why did they approach a label then?)
Considering we get maybe 4000 aproaches a year the odds are long...this blog is full of helpful tips and techniques to lessen the odds of getting signed.If you delve deep into this blog and follow the advice,which is pretty simple- write great songs and tour them constantly, you will get signed.Actually if any NEW band reading this can prove they have performed 250+ gigs in a year, which is about the most any massively touring band on this label has ever done, and didnt self destruct in the process, we'd be extremely interested in you!

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