Q: When paying for a demo, should you pay for live music only? How much does it cost? I've heard $600 a song or even more. What do I look for?

A: Yes, it costs that much or more. You have to really know that your songs have a shot before spending this kind of money. And you have to really know that the place you are going to creates demos that are acceptable to the ears of the industry.

I spent between $600 and $900 per song, demoing 7 songs 3 or 4 years ago. What's that, about $4000? None of those songs have ever got a deal.

I thought they were good, my producer thought they were good, etc etc. But I didn't know, I didn't understand, what 'commercial' meant. If I'd spent $100 someone like John Braheny or Jason Blume could have critiqued my songs. It would have been hard to take, to hear that what I thought was good was poor. And it would have been even harder to understand that even anything good isn't good enough. Nothing less than great will even get a look.

Secondly, those costly demos... were a mix of live and midi. Nothing wrong with midi... if it's worked with so it is indistinguishable from the real thing. Nothing wrong with EZdrummer if it's worked with properly. But the midi on my demos is obvious to the experienced ear, and the virtual instruments used to give sound to that midi are not of good quality. I hear that now, but then I was so excited about my songs coming alive... and I didn't even know that would be an issue.

In addition, I did not have the experience to even know what to ask for. I should have, for example, taken in a couple of recordings of hit songs in the genre I was shooting for, and talked to the producer about having that kind of arrangement/setting for my song. And finding the right singer. Someone who sounds something like the "a la" artists I intended to pitch the song for.

IMO I foolishly hired someone who didn't have the necessary experience to take my songs from worktape to effective, pitchable demo. I don't blame them, I blame me. I didn't know what I was doing. Buyer beware. In the end it didn't really matter because the songs themselves were not worthy of the money spent upon them. An expensive lesson.

I recommend that you take what you feel are your top 3 best, killer songs - and have them critiqued by professionals. NSIA, SongU, John or Jason, Harriet Schock, Pat & Pete Luboff. In all cases the feedback is the opinion of the person writing the critique, but this will give you a fairly good idea if what you think is great, is commercially viable. If the results of this exercise are good, then start shopping for a producer who produces songs that sound as close as you can get to the hit songs in the genre you are going to be pitching in. Make sure the singer used on the demo is excellent. The singer sells the song.

my voice cracks when I sing

Q: I try so hard to get my voice back the way it used to be, when it really worked. But it cracks and it hurts when I sing, and sometimes I cough. What am I doing wrong?

A: The most important thing you need to do is to stop trying to make your voice be something else. People try to imitate the stars they love, or they try to make their voice do something they imagine is good. And all they do is strangle their voices. You see this on American Idol auditions all the time.

Your voice is like a dog you are trying to get to jump through the hoop. You can't make the dog jump through the hoop, it has to jump on its own. Even if you lift up the dog, you can't make it jump. You simply hold out the hoop and invite the dog to jump through it. You have to invite your voice to be with you.

Your voice is cracked and strained because you are trying to make it 'be' something. You need to accept it for exactly what it is. Even if you plan to work or train, you must always work with what you have, and trust that it will progress.

Voice is a funny thing. the harder you try to make it 'be', the further away you push it.

Sing music that suits your voice in keys that fit your range. Don't imitate other people. In addition - this is very important - always look for quality, not quantity. Sing songs you like, but sing them as yourself. That's all we really have anyway.

offering lyrics "for free"

Q: You can use my lyrics for free as long as you give me credit on your CD. You will not own the lyrics and can't say you wrote them.

A: Unfortunately it’s not true that someone setting your words to music can do so “freely” and then not own the result.

The truth is that both of you would own the resulting song, meaning that it is a co-written piece of music. They could do very little with the song without your input. In other words, they couldn’t pitch it to an artist, they couldn’t pitch it to film/tv.

So using your lyrics would preclude them doing anything but recording it themselves on their CD. And in that case, you can, in writing, waive your share of the mechanical licencing fee for that song, however, you will still be owed your share of the songwriting royalties if the song is played on radio or in PRO registered venues. And I have had some legal advice on the subject of co-writing, and it is recommended that you always get a co-writing agreement signed.

If there is clear separation between the contributions, you can agree on a reversion clause so that if the song is not published or placed within a certain period that property reverts back to you. In the absence of a co-writing agreement the law considers the song to belong to both of you equally, regardless of who contributed what.

If it were me, I would also expect my co-writer to at least participate in the process of the music development & give feedback on melody and setting. I would also expect them to share in the cost of demoing the song, if any.

One additional note - avoid any situation where the same lyrics may be used by different people for different songs. The legal entanglements get too complicated. One lyric, one song - at least until the revision clause clicks in.

Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer & the above should not be misconstrued as legal advice.