Should You Send Unsolicited Demos to Record Labels?

So, you have this quality new song you've just recorded, and you're convinced that the world needs to hear this modern day work of art. Is it worth sending it to a record label to see if they want to sign it for a single deal? Or what about sending in a longer demo to see if they'll sign you in general?

Today we're going to look at how likely it is you'll get any type of deal when sending in an unsolicited demo. Be sure to read on till the end for all the information.

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What Is an Unsolicited Demo?

An unsolicited demo is one which isn't requested by the record label. You simply package your demo and send it off to any labels you think may be interested.

Why Unsolicited Demos Aren't Very Effective at Getting Musicians Signed

OK, so I'm going to get to the point from early on here: If you send in a demo that someone working at a record label hasn't specifically requested, you're most likely wasting your time. These days the chances of getting signed simply by sending in your material is extremely minuscule. You're better off saving the stamp cost and instead spending it on some other area of your music career. The reason for this is simple: Labels don't listen to the unexpected demos they receive.

Think about it. These labels are businesses, so they have to display their address in certain places. They don't do this because they want to receive demos, but this is an unfortunate (for them) byproduct of being so easy to contact. It's because of this that they can often get tens or hundreds of unsolicited demos every month, or even every week.

No record label has time to listen to all those demos, especially when there's a much more effective way for them to find talent worth signing.

What's Better Then Submitting Random Demos

So now that you know submitting demos that label bosses didn't ask for is a highly ineffective way of getting a record deal, what should you be doing instead? Well, it turns out I've written a whole guide on that subject already. You can see the best way to get signed to a worthy record deal here.

But What If You Have a REALLY Good Song, Is It OK to Send in Your Demo Then?

That's up to you. But remember, as unsolicited demos generally don't even get opened (they usually get trashed), there's no way for the record label to know if your song's good or not. My advice is to follow the above guide, and work towards earning a record deal instead.

So there you have it, why you shouldn't send in unsolicited demos. Do you have any experience with this? Have you ever sent in a demo a record label hadn't requested? And if so, what kind of responses did you get? I'd love to hear your views, so leave a comment.