Your Demo

It is rare that you will get a job purely on the strength of a demo tape, unless you are well established in the industry, or have well placed contacts. This, however is not a reason to give up.

Below are a few tips to help you make a demo, I can even teach you online.

The best way to think of a demo is a kind of audio version of an application form. And of course on an application form, you want to fill it in properly. But how do you do that, in audio, in 3 minutes! And do it well?

And get past the myriad of other people all competing for the same job…. will your tape just get thrown on the pile with all the others, or get put at the bottom of the “C” list pile, perhaps being promoted to the “B” list after a couple of years, then the “A” list if you’re lucky, then maybe you get the job..

The reason why I said that, is because I want to make a point. It’s not true. Not necessarily.

People often ask me, “How do I get into radio?”.

I wish I had one bog standard answer to give them, if I could chart a one size fits all path for the success of everyone, I would be rich by now. But there isn’t one.

Everyone’s path is absolutely unique.

I have seen 16 year old boys do work experience and end up co-producing Chris Tarrant, a HUGE radio personality in the 90’s.

I have seen people start on a local radio station, really really small and local, then get a job at Capital radio afterwards. That was me!

There are however ways and means of getting noticed, and cutting through the noise, and I will teach you those, on this site.

There are things to do on a demo, and things not to do. I will teach you those as well. It’s easy when you know.

If you are already established, then chances are you will have been listened to already by the person that is interested in what you have to offer.

But what if you are a complete beginner?
It’s a sad fact, that the number of demo tapes recieved by radio stations are really poor. There are common mistakes that people make when recording demos that quite simply they do not know they are making. But to a rushed professional, who wants to make a decision NOW, it will be very irritating indeed. Keep reading.

Or of course, you may not be a match for what the station is wanting right now. That’s ok, but there are ways of making you more of a match, which I will discuss below.

Or you may not have access to a studio, but thanks to this website, you can be taught to make a credible demo from home, on the very PC you are reading this on.

The first 30 seconds

Have you ever had the experience of meeting someone and knowing within 30 seconds whether you liked them or not? Ok, that may not be ideal in the big picture of things, but it is primarily the way PC’s work. Therefore, you need to impress right at the start. Many people do that by using BIG sounding over the top jingles, which is ok in some markets, but not all. It leads nicely onto my next point..

Be a good match for the station you are approaching

If you are approaching a station aimedd at people aged 55 and above, and you make a demo beginning with the “LARGE IT , HOT ROCKIN’ approach”, you may as well try to sell hairbrushes to bald people.

It’s an extreme example, but you would be surprised just how many people do exactly that.

Be real

Everyone can reel off a list of star birthdays or local facts and stats. What makes you different? What is a match to the station, original and creative, and lets your personality shine through?

Make it look good

If you went into a restaurant, would you order “Deep fried goujons of plaice with a lemon twist!” or “Dead fish”.

In the same way, would you, if you were a PC, want to see “New contemporary and exciting presentation talent that could be a benefit to us” or “Someone on a CD”

There are ways to achieve all this and more, it’s all in the Get Into Radio Book, or you can learn how to make

a demo online as well, from the comfort of your own PC! Click here for this exciting opportunity