This was written by a dude named Dan Evans. He plays in a band called Modern Movement. He used to play in another awesome band called Apocalypse Pow! Check both bands out. It's worth your time. Also, read this about sending out demos. He's spot on.

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Seeking advice or tips about where to send demos

I've seen or heard this phrase many times over the years and I've finally decided to address it, since I have some experience playing in bands. I know it might be hard to hear, but the truth is: Don't bother sending your demos ANYWHERE. That's right, you heard me. Save the postage. It's a waste of time and it kills morale (when you get no response or a poor one). The only way shopping your recordings is going to work is if you know someone who owns a label, or you know someone who knows someone who owns a label. And even then, you're better off putting that energy into other stuff, which I'll get to in a moment.

Even the term "shopping" kind of gets my goat these days. Record labels are not malls! They are in the business of making money off of your product, unless they are a small indie or punk label, in which case, they probably won't be able to help you much anyway, other than pressing a CD. Don't mess with shopping your record. The only people who need to have your record are your fans. Remember, the term "fan" is short for fanatic. When there are hundreds or thousands of fanatics for your band coming to see you perform, there will be record labels chomping at the bit to shower you with money, buy you a bus to tour in, and pay for your big budget music video. But that, my friends, is not how it starts. The first thing you should do is figure out how to get your recording in the hands of people that might like your band. Record labels don't care if your music is good or fun or original. They only care if it SELLS. Guess who does care if your music is good or fun or original? That's right. THE FANS.

I have a lot of friends in bands. Really good bands, in fact. The only problem I've noticed is that when they get to a certain age (myself included) they begin to feel like, "Hey, I've been doing this shit for years, and I'm still no closer to achieving my goals than when I started my first band in 9^th Grade." This little spike of fear that we may be running out of time starts to affect our judgment. We start to get antsy and try coming up with short cuts or quick solutions. Believe me, I know because I've been there several times myself.

Here's the good news: There are some tried and true methods that WILL WORK if you have the right people in your band and a little perseverance (assuming your music is decent).

1. PLAY SHOWS. I don't care if it's at your local bar or in a friend's basement, you must play, play, and play! If you get paid, put the money in a "band fund", don't spend it on drinks or food. If you don't get paid, that's ok, you can make money off merchandise (see below).

2. MAKE MERCH. Make shirts, stickers, buttons, even coffee mugs for fuck's sake! If it has your band logo on it, someone that likes your band will want to show off that they know about your music, which makes them cool. Guess what? You can help them achieve that! And in the process, you make your band more popular, which gets more people coming to your shows, which later on will attract record labels, etc.

3. GET YOUR MUSIC TO THE FANS. This is where a lot of us get tripped up. We think, "Oh, my last band was on a label, and we had boxes of CDs to sell which made our band very popular. I need to find a label to put out my new project." FUCK THAT! If there is no label at your fingertips, waiting to do whatever you ask, then you need to figure out a way to get your music in the CD or mp3 players of your fans. They are the ones who will decide your fate. There are many ways to do this. You can sell mp3s from your myspace page; you can burn CDs and make cool looking covers, or if you have some dough, you can press a thousand copies with jewel cases or slip sleeves or whatever works best for you, and whatever you think people might want to plop down 5 to 10 bucks for. If you play a show and don't have anything for someone to walk away with, there's a good chance they'll forget about you. Have you ever heard someone say, "I saw this cool band last night." Oh? What were they called? "Uh, I forgot."

4. TOUR. I know, I know. This is the hard part. The most expensive part of being in a band is touring (remember that "band fund" I mentioned). However, it is also the best way to get new fans. If you don't have a booking agent (none of my bands have ever had one) then you need to book the tour yourself. This can be a huge headache, don't get me wrong, but you have to start somewhere. And the first few tours will probably suck, and no one will be there. But if you keep touring, selling merch, and playing your ass off, you'll start to notice more people coming out. Another thing you can do is work out hopping on a tour with one of your friends' bands. Be prepared to invite them to hop on your next tour, though. It's not only polite, it means you get to go on tour again and get more fans!

5. KEEP IT POSI. People will be more apt to get fired up about your band if they think you're doing well. Most people like to feel like they're part of that. If the band is having problems, don't be too hasty to advertise it.

6. GET THE WORD OUT. This includes all of the above, as well as posting bulletins, handing out flyers, and general word of mouth. The more people know about your band, the better.

We've all heard the tales of how The Cranberries got signed from a demo, or how The Cure got their recordings into the hands of influential record executives. There's always more to the story! The Cranberries might have had an inside connection we don't know about, and The Cure were most certainly playing a shit-load of shows, even if it was their demo that got them signed. Remember that band The Juliana Theory? Whether or not you think they sucked has little bearing on what I'm going to say. When they were just picking up steam, EVERYBODY knew who they were. The reason was they were good at getting the word out and were RELENTLESS about it. True, I found this quite annoying at the time, but it sure made them popular. Then one day, a few years later, I heard they signed a million dollar record deal, and were touted as the next Pink Floyd! Word is they gave up complete creative control to the label. Then they disappeared.

Joe Strummer of The Clash wrote a song called Complete Control. He was talking about the artist having control over the art. Don't trust record labels, and don't seek them out in the hopes they will make your band more popular. It's all about the fans. Oh, and write the best kick ass music you possibly can.<> That helps.