Q&A: How can I get a recording contract?

Question by libby hatton: How can I get a recording contract?
Music and singing is my life and passion, but i don’t know where to start to trying to get discovered. My music teacher says i have a lot of passion and a good voice. Please help me

Best answer:

Answer by Dave LaBuda
If you are a singer without any original music, you will definitely need some original music before you submit a demo recording. You should really begin now to learn something about the music business and how it works and take a serious look at your competition. There are a lot of singers who want a career in music. You don’t just get a record contract. You really have to earn it. The record companies are only going to invest their money in a sure thing. That means you not only need to be a good singer, you need to be one of the best. But, that’s only a small part of it, you also need to be a great performer. You must be professional on stage and not just sing the music but perform that music. Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube. He got the attention of the record label that signed him because he had good original music, he could sing, and he is a truly great performer. But, that’s not the main reason he was signed. He had a huge amount of hits at YouTube. Many thousands of people had viewed his videos. The record labels knew they had a winner in Justin. There are many more people on YouTube and MySpace (the better of the two to get noticed) who are trying to do what Justin did. Many of them are also very good. There is also the old conventional way of getting into the business which is to make a demo recording and then figure out who to send it to. One way of learning about the people who are looking for new talent is to get a copy of the 2010 Songwriter’s Market. I know, you’re a singer. But, songwriter’s send their demo’s to the same people that you would send a demo to. – http://www.amazon.com/2010-Songwriters-Market-Where-Songs/dp/158297585X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284974161&sr=8-1 – Again, I warn you, do not send a demo to anyone unless it is your absolute best work and it must be as good or better than any of the records now playing on the top 40 at Billboard.com. You have to be that good to get signed. If your demo is chosen to be heard, you will likely only get about 30 seconds to capture the attention of the A&R person who is listening to you. If you don’t sound truly exceptional to him/her, you’ll end up in the reject pile an anything else you send them will not be heard. You would do well to get singing lessons, and performance lessons and find a collection of songwriter’s (meet them on MySpace) who have original music you could sing on a demo. Pick that music very carefully. It should be music that you can relate to personally. Your best performance will always be when you have an emotional tie to the music you are singing. You will need to be able to sing and perform this well (watch the video), in order to get noticed … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emHrsJ93Sr0

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