Life After the Demo

One of the biggest mistakes an artist makes is to run with their demo straight to their social media platforms. Straight into the hands of harsh critics and self-proclaimed industry experts. The harsh judgements of others can easily wither your resolve. Protect yourself in these early stages from being immediately compared to the best of the best.

Listen to your demo with a pair of headphones and objectively compare it to other music in the same genre. Be your own critic first before releasing your music to the world. Prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for negative comments. Don't worry if your music at this stage sounds unrefined and amateurish. Remember that this is just a demo - a great place to troubleshoot and correct mistakes. Use your primary cheerleaders (your family) as your first audience. Use your family because at this point you need judges who are willing to pitch in or carry some of the financial burden of a redo to correct any mistakes. Be honest with yourself and try to read between the lines, what is yourfamilyreallysaying about this one song. Bodylanguage and verbal cues are a good indicators. If in the first 15 seconds you don't hear or see any indication that what you have produced is a potential hit song then be prepared to drop this song and if you are still up to it try a different song, perhaps even a different genre. Remember, this is your demo, no one knows about you or can anticipate the type of music you are going to make. Use this anonymity to free you from the shackles of genre loyalty. If hip-hop isn't working, try rumba, try dancehall, try any genre and use this time to identify your niche and a potential hit song.