Making Your Music Demo
The first thing that needs to be established before heading off to do your music demo, is why you are doing it. Bands often need a recording to give to a club before being able to play there. What’s required in that situation is much different than what’s required for a Pop or R&B singer looking to get a record deal.
 
Many artists first thought is to call a recording studio. While this may yield results, most recording studios make their money from selling time. The recording studio provides the space with all the equipment and an assistant and/or engineer to run it all. They charge a set fee by the hour and you’re free to do whatever you like during that time.

If you’re a band, this may be precisely what you need. But if you’re a singer and don’t have any music production skills, this kind of setup will be useless to you. You first need the music before you can record your vocals. Again, this is where the services of a experienced music producer are desired.

Making A Master Recording

So what exactly is the difference between a Master recording and a demo? 

A MASTER is made for commercial release. You hear MASTERS on the radio and buy them in stores or download them from iTunes. A Master is a finished, full production. The quality is superior to a music "demo".

The "demo" (which is short for "demonstration")  is intended to interest the Record label or publisher in investing the money to record a Music Master.  Traditionally, the music demo was something as simple as a vocal and piano. But with the advances in technology it no longer pays to record a simple "music demo". A Master quality music production is now affordable for those serious about their careers.  Record labels are used to hearing finished music productions and that's what they expect.

With internet distribution, a Music Master can be sold, placed in radio, licensed, etc. Though "music demo" is still a buzz word, any music productions worth doing should be of Master quality and radio ready.

Choosing a Music Producer
Like anything, you need to shop around to find the right music producer to produce your music demo. Ask a lot of questions. Precisely what qualifies this individual to call themselves a record producer? Ask about their experience. Do they have any album credits, have they worked with any famous recording artists, won any awards, worked on hit records, etc.?

Are they known in the industry and do they have a good reputation? Is this a part time job for them? Are they involved with the style of music you wish to pursue? Some other considerations would be location. What studio will you work at and with what engineer?

Meet with them and hear their work. Are you impressed with the quality of their music production? Do you like them and vibe with them? Ask how they would treat your project.

How Much is it?
Finally, ask about cost. A music demo can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars, to record company budgets of tens of thousands of dollars per song. Some producers may charge by the hour. While occasionally this might be appropriate, it has the potential of costing you many times more than you originally planned.

Ask about additional costs, such as musicians, studio costs , engineering fees, etc. A set fee for the music production demo is usually the best way to go and the way that most record companies work with music producers.
While you don’t want to mortgage your house for your music demo, you must realize that you get what you pay for.

The cheapest demo around will sound like the cheapest demo around. This isn’t how you want to portray yourself if you’re serious about pursuing a record deal. You want to go with the highest quality music demo from the best music producer that you can afford.

Choosing a Studio
Unless you’re technically proficient in the area of recording studio equipment, seeing an equipment list won’t help you much. But you should be interested in the clientele that the recording studio attracts.

If they regularly work with signed recording artists, record companies and publishing companies, chances are they have the necessary equipment and technical skill to give you a professional product. Check out a list of their clients.

The music producer will most likely have a recording studio that they’re comfortable working in and that has the necessary equipment to produce your demo. But while home studios may have come a long way in recent years, they still don’t match the environment, acoustics, sound, equipment and personnel of a commercial recording studio.