Getting signed these days

What is the best way to get a Record label especially Major Record label to notice your band. I heard sending in Demo stuff doesnt work hardly anymore, what do you think. And if i need to make Demos, What is the best way to go about recording them? thanks

Major label? Good luck!! However yes you do need a demo to send to anybody that might want an band, solo act, etc. I recomend going to a studio that specalizes on demo making. Making one yourself is not a good idea. I'm talking from experience! Even in the studio; be invloved in the final mix!!! Even good studios rush thru and do a bad job on instrument levels. More experience. Peace my brother!!

Ahhh... getting signed. First thing... build a fan base. You have to play in your area and get some street credit. Make a demo... distribute it to every record label you can think of. Hand them out to people on the street... hand them out at gigs and so forth... or you can charge like 5 bucks for them at the gigs... then you can atleast make some cash. You also have to tour... You can't get signed if you play the same two or three bars every weekend. Atleast tour throughout your state... Try to get some gigs in some bigger cities... you never know who is going to be at one of your gigs in a major city. The internet is a bands best friend now-a-days... check otu a site like www.purevolume.com You can post your bands songs and info about you band and all that. One other way to get noticed is pay someone to critique your songs. You may have heard of a band called Crossfade... they got signed through an A&R agency called Taxi... www.taxi.com basically they take your songs and tell you what you need to do to make it sound the best. They also have connections with large record labels. I am working with a few bands that are going through the same thing... and it's hard work. Good luck though man.

i think nowadays all you need to do to get signed is send a tape with boring, monotonous dull signing, keyboard, no guitar solos,repeated minor chords and your bands name has to be sumthing like coldplay.

haha... yeah... or that!

I think the reason why people have trouble getting signed is... you prolly suck. Alot of people feed off of complements that people give them. Alot of these people dont even know a thing about music. Look for the complements from real musicians. Try and locate critics to check out your stuff.

Another thing, is I dont agree with "AKE" about going to studios to have them make your stuff. Sure if you have a ton of money to give to a studio to make your demo.. good!. I'm friends with people from a few central new york studios, and i know that if you dont have alot of money, they arn't going to spend alot of time on making your mix the way you want it. As a future Recording Engineer, I've been recording since I was about 12.

If someone tries to record a demo by themselves that dont know a think about sound, then yes, go to a studio. But it you at least know about effects, and eq'ing, and playing, then thats good.

Alot of labels are looking to see if you are a good band, the Mix is a big deal, but it wont jepordize you if its not perfect.

Mainly try to figure out if your good first. And try to do something that is unique, but not weird.

I agree... and disagree... If you can afford a studio, go for it. They can point you in a direction that you may not otherwise consider... as well as they might have access to gear that you don't have access to. I can also tell you that I have talked to a few people that have been in the industry for awhile and they have all told me that people go nuts over trying to make their demo the best quality that they can... when a record label listens to your demo... They can tell if you are a good enough band to sign. regardless of the sound quality. If your singer can sing, he'll sound good... if your guitar player can play... he'll sound good. So sound quality is really not that important to labels that are listening to demos. They've been around and they can tell a good act when they hear it. Besides, if you get signed they're just going to record you and make it sound even better with thousands of dollars worth of software. So don't stress the quality of the demo unless you have the money to spend on a pro studio. On the other hand... it is a must to make a good first impression.