A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed format, such as
cassette tape,
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...
, or
digital audio file
An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a computer system. The bit layout of the audio data (excluding metadata) is called the audio coding format and can be uncompressed, or compressed to reduce the file size, ofte ...
s, and to thereby pass along those ideas to
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
s,
producers
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
, or other artists.
Musicians often use demos as quick sketches to share with bandmates or
arrangers, or simply for personal reference during the songwriting process; in other cases, a songwriter might make a demo to send to artists in hopes of having the song professionally recorded, or a
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
may need a simple recording for publishing or copyright purposes.
Background
Demos are typically recorded on relatively crude equipment such as "boom box"
cassette recorder
A cassette deck is a type of tape machine for playing and recording audio cassettes that does not have a built-in power amplifier or speakers, and serves primarily as a transport. It can be a part of an automotive entertainment system, a part of ...
s, small
four- or eight-track machines, or on personal computers with audio recording software. Songwriters' and publishers' demos are recorded with minimal instrumentation, usually just an acoustic guitar or piano and the vocals. Both
Elton John and
Donovan gained studio experience early in their careers by recording publishers' demos for other artists since their managers also handled music publishing, as did
Garth Brooks, who was so impressed when recording the demo of "
Friends in Low Places" that he asked to release the song himself.
Function
Many unsigned bands and artists record demos in order to obtain a
recording contract. These demos are usually sent to record labels in hopes that the artist will be signed onto the label's roster and allowed to record a full-length album in a professional
recording studio. However, large record labels usually ignore unsolicited demos that are sent to them by mail; artists generally must be more creative about getting the demos into the hands of the people who make decisions for the record company. Many signed bands and artists record demos of new songs before recording an album. The demos may allow the artist to provide sketches for sharing ideas with bandmates, or to explore several alternate versions of a song, or to quickly record many proto-songs before deciding which ones merit further development. Demos may include as few as one or two songs or as many as would be contained on a full-length album.
Availability
Demos are seldom heard by the public, although some artists do eventually release rough demos in
compilation albums or
box sets, such as the album ''
Demolicious'' by
Green Day. Other demo versions have been unofficially released as
bootleg recordings, such as
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
'
bootleg demos and the
Beach Boys
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
'
Sea of Tunes
Sea of Tunes was a music publishing company founded in 1962 by Murry and Brian Wilson. Murry was the first manager of the Beach Boys, the father of Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson and the uncle of Mike Love. The intention of Sea of Tunes was to ...
series. Several artists have eventually made official releases of demo versions of their songs as albums or companion pieces to albums, such as
Florence and the Machine ("
What the Water Gave Me", among others) and
Cults
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This s ...
on the EP ''Sunday Jams''. The event of a demo tape appearing on
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
has happened in the past, with the recordings being leaked onto the internet.
In rare instances, a demo may end up as the final released recording of a song, as was the case with
Foster the People
Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis.
Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...
's "
Pumped Up Kicks
"Pumped Up Kicks" is a song by American indie pop band Foster the People. It was released as the band's debut single in September 2010, and the following year was included on their EP ''Foster the People'' and their debut album, ''Torches''. "Pu ...
". The version of "Pumped Up Kicks" that was released as a single and subsequently became a hit was a demo recorded by frontman Mark Foster alone, before he had formed the group.
In 1982,
Bruce Springsteen recorded ten demo songs in his bedroom that he intended to later record with his
E Street Band
The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...
, but he subsequently decided that he preferred the acoustic demos and released them as the 1982 album ''
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
''.
In more underground forms of music, such as
noise music,
black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...
, or
punk rock, demos are often distributed by bands to fans as self-releases or sold at a very low price.
Amateur (and some professional) musicians may choose to make demos available to interested listeners through websites such as
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
or
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
in order to share new ideas, receive feedback and/or provide fans with "behind the scenes" access to the songwriting process.
Footnotes
{{Authority control
Music production
Audio storage
Album types
Punk rock
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