Most Musicians think getting a record deal is about having talent and being discovered. Well 30 years ago it was but not now. With the invention of Antares (pitch correctors) and modern technology, a good recording studio can take a person off the street and make them sound great even a person who can't sing and has no soul. There are numerous people out there now who have no talent who have sold millions of records I am sure you all can name a few. Unfortunately the record business is in turmoil in the US most major labels are loosing some serious dollars and change their mind each month regarding what they are looking for depending upon what sound scan reports has sold last month. A lot of the new bands may think well I need a gimmick well that may work for a song or two but it wears off fast.
  We get 50 or so submissions a week from around the globe most of them have gone into a local studio and cranked out 6 or 8 songs in a day and "got a great deal" so they think and surmise that we will send this to every music company we can find they will see our talent and then put thousands of dollars into us to develop us and then we will be stars, NOT TRUE. If you are a band out there and only have a recording budget of say $2000 take that $2000 and find a truly great recording studio with a truly great engineer and take your best song and take 2 days to record and mix it then send it out to music companies and you may get some attention. Quality is always better than Quantity.
  There is a lot of talent out there and it takes more than talent , it takes hit songs, a sound and a look the whole package. If you believe you have the whole package, get the good recording and pitch it and try to find a good music company that will pitch you to labels and get you heard. Most Musicians think well that agent should believe in me and he will make a fortune off our music and he should do it for free, NOT TRUE. If you were to go to a realtor and ask them will you sell my house they would say sure we will get our commission when its sold but then you say oh by the way I need you to build the house first would you expect them then to build it for free. Of course not well its the same here a good music company knows what he has to build to get a deal and you can't expect him to pay his rent, telephone bills, office rent and payroll on his belief in the artists music he or she will perform a service of advice on what to record, where to record at and they will take that product and get it into the hands of the record label execs to hear then its up to the record label God and what is on that CD he then has in his hands and just plain luck. I will continue this column in the next issue.  I encourage Musicians to ask the questions and we will attempt to give you answers.

Stephen Wrench Pres. Lou-Do Music www.loudomusic.com