As a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency, I've had the unusual opportunity to listen and critique many a demo reel from up and coming artists. One thing is for sure, the vast majority of reels are in the fair to pretty good, but not the “Knock your socks off,” category. There are a multiple of reasons for this, but for the sake of time, I will highlight what makes up for an incredible singing reel, whether you're singing jingles, general session work or working towards an artist deal.



Singer reels encompass somewhat of a large category in general, but I believe the following concepts can cross over multitudes of styles and hopefully bridge the gap in your attempt to have a demo that not only sounds great, but turns the ears of your listeners as well. Did you ever wonder beyond the actual music what makes for a great session or recording in general? Have you ever noticed how some individuals just naturally crank out demo reels that might as well be the master tracks for a major artist recording and how some just continually struggle to cut the grade?

To begin with, nothing short changes your demo reel more then a lack of focus. Lots of energy has been expended over a failure to provide the end goal. If you are going for an artist record deal, then don't be playing around with “demos.” Your artist record demo has to sound like you've already got the record deal. Unfortunately many individuals out there feel like they can piece together their artist demos on their friend's computer – Probably not going to happen. Your demo has to sound top 40 no questions asked, and on top of that, has to incorporate more unique musical elements not found with popular current recording artists - Why should the label add another act that sounds just like another act currently on the charts?

If you are a jingle singer, you will want to focus on a smorgasbord of sounds. It's funny that most of the commercials airing tend to be fairly moderate, but to break in to the market; you'll probably want to include some off the wall sounding jingles to grab the attention of your listeners. You might want to visit ReelMusician.com for further ideas on jingles and what makes up for a good jingle reel. If you want to get into general session work then try figuring out who you are as a singer, what your particular role will be in the session and then develop your reel based upon those findings. You'd be surprised at how many singers don't sit down over a cup of coffee and figure out their singing goals starting with today, this week, this month, year and five year goals and then elaborate on a career game plan based upon that information.

Once you've established your goals and game plan to get there, you can start to look at your demo reel. Some time ago a prominent artist manager told me that he felt that if money was an issue when recording a demo, then it was better to keep the demo simple while using the best players possible. In other words, it's better to record a guitar/vocal or piano/vocal with the best guitar or piano player around and have the “reel musician” play on your demo then to have all of the rhythm section elements in play, but not the quality to back it up. I found that statement interesting and find it as truth even today. It is far better to keep your artwork, music, bio, press kits, etc simple but utilizing the best possible writers, designers, musicians, then to have a run of the mill artist package that looks and sounds like the rest of them. You'll feel good about thinking you're in the “in” crowd saying all of the buzz words, but you will most likely go no where. You're not in the game to sound like the rest of them, you're in the game to get a record deal, obtain jingle singing work or general session work. Utilize this principle and it will go along ways in your career.

We've touched on developing your focus, creating a game plan with goals, obtaining the best musicians or the “reel musician,” and now let's look at some ancillary ideas to wrap up this topic and will hopefully give you an edge in your career path. Attitude is king as everyone knows. Great attitudes often make up for pretty good demos and helps pave the way to real success – People like working with down to earth, nice individuals and not the “artsy fartsy.” Maintaining and setting your goals is key. Always be looking at and creating new goals and ways to get there. Always be authentic in your personal dealings. Music professionals may not always be transparent, but believe me, with all of the insecurity out there in the halls of the music industry and outside, it's always refreshing to work with singers and acts that are real and transparent and not in a put on way.

Learn to develop creative ways to develop relationships with individuals already in your field. For session singers and jingle singers, you will want to form authentic relationships with singers already in the field involved in session work. Your relationship might entail vocal coaching or just a plain friendship – keeping in mind, that while you want to succeed in becoming a mainstream session singer, that the individual you have developed a friendship with is worth more than your goal. In other words, it's not what you can do for me, but I want to be your friend with or without the session work help. Inclosing, develop a general game plan, set your goals, make all creative material including your demo center around those goals, utilize the best possible players, with only one or two players where budget is slim and develop authentic relationships with individuals already in the field.