What is the basic difference in a $200.00 demo and a demo costing more?
First, and very important, is the musicians and engineers used on the session. The only players used by pro-writers are seasoned “union” musicians. There is a basic union scale for these players that everyone must pay. Some less expensive demos use “non-union” musicians. The rule of thumb is that any musician willing to work for less than union scale is not in the same league, musically, as the union players. Second, the engineers used by the pro-writers have a basic charge. To use someone charging less will most probably drastically affect the final sound of your song demo. Another important factor is how the demos are being done. A lot of budget demos are done in a “cattle call” situation. Sometimes as many as 7 different songs are done in one assembly line process. This is barely enough time for the musicians to listen to the songs and play through them briefly before recording the demo.
