what is a music demo?

A music demo, commonly called a songwriter demo, can be a simple guitar/vocal or a full band production. It can be produced at a home studio utilizing very basic equipment or recorded in a state-of-the-art facility. Since the object of the recording is to sell the song the emphasis should be on the lyrics and melody. The vocalist usually 'out front' in the mix. The song demo is one of the few ways a songwriter can audition his/her songs to publishers, recording companies and internet listeners. Today, the music demo is more than likely to be in the mp3 format.

You don't necessarily need a full band but most songs will benefit with at least four or five instruments.  Adding extra instruments: background vocals, strings, etc. can greatly enhance the song and therefore your chance of success.

do you promote the demo songs you record?

No, we are a recording studio; we are not in the promotion business.  However, we do have a songwriter's resource page and a tip sheet page that will give you the names of producers, publishers & recording executives that are seeking new material.  We also have an excellent article on internet promotion here.

Quite a few of our demo clients have received publishing contracts and a few have even received royalty payments but this has been a result of their own promotional efforts.

where can I get some information on songwriting?

We offer some great books on the art of songwriting. The internet is another great source of information.  Also, just listening to the radio and mtv can be a great source of knowledge.  Analyze the songs you hear. Are you writing songs now?  If so, have your friends and family listen;  Place mp3s on the internet.  Feedback is very important. You'll know pretty quickly if your songs are ready.

why should I come to thomas roller productions for my demo?

We offer a state-of-the-art digital recording studio. We are located in Los Angeles, California with a variety of untapped talent.  We have country singers, rhythm and blues singers, rappers, Spanish vocalists, you name it.

We encourage you to download mp3 samples and hear some of our past work.  We don't just have a few samples available, we have many samples for you to hear in various styles. These are actual demos we have recorded for clients over the past few years. These samples are truly representative of what your demo will sound like.

Samples in a variety of styles:
country: with 'live' instruments; no sampled sounds.
pop/top40/soul: with the latest in electronic drums and sampled instruments.

Check out our testimonial page and see what our customers are saying. We don't have two or three testimonials; We have hundreds of testimonials on file and many years of satisfied customers.

We also read and write music; this is especially important to writers that have lead sheets or music manuscripts. We can actually read your printouts;  and lastly, we offer the best prices around.

what do you think of songwriting contests?

We devote a page to songwriting contests. Generally speaking, any place you can get your songs critiqued by industry professionals is a good thing. The bigger contests (John Lennon, Billboard, and others etc.) have been around for many years and have solid reputations.

as a singer songwriter, can I sing my own songs?

Yes. We record for many local singer songwriters and also vocalists from around the world. We will produce killer backing tracks in your key and send you 24 bit wav files of each individual instrument for overdubbing at your local studio.  If you are in the Los Angeles area you are welcome to use our studio to record your vocals;  (We do charge hourly rates for this service in addition to the demo charge)