How to build a demo that gets you booked

Your demo is not your album. It's a tool with one job: to make the person hiring feel safe putting you in front of their client, their audience or their session. Once you treat it that way, most of the decisions make themselves.

Know who's listening

A demo for a wedding band leader, a demo for a producer looking for a session vocalist and a demo for a club promoter are three different things. The band leader wants to hear that you can play the songs people dance to, cleanly and in time. The producer wants to hear your tone and how you take direction. The promoter wants to know what the room will feel like when you're on.

Before you record anything, write one sentence: "This demo is for ___, who needs to know that I can ___." If you can't finish the sentence, you're not ready to record.

Lead with your strongest thirty seconds

People who book talent listen to a lot of demos, often on a phone, often between other things. Assume they'll give you thirty seconds before deciding whether to keep going. Put your best moment first. That might mean starting a track at the chorus, or opening with the solo instead of building up to it.

If you send several pieces, order them by strength, not by date or by which one you're proudest of emotionally.

Short and specific beats long and varied

Two or three pieces is plenty. One that shows exactly what you'd be hired to do, one that shows range within that, and, optionally, one that shows something unexpected you do well.

Resist the urge to prove you can do everything. A guitarist who sends a jazz standard, a metal riff, a folk ballad and a pop cover looks unsure of what they're for. A guitarist who sends three tight function-band sets looks bookable for function-band work, which is the work they asked about.

Sound quality: good enough, not perfect

Nobody expects a studio master. They do expect to hear you clearly. A few things make a big difference:

• Record in a quiet, soft-furnished room rather than a bare one.
• Get the levels right so nothing distorts. Do a test recording and listen back on headphones.
• If you're playing with others, make sure you can actually be heard in the mix. It's your demo.
• Trim silence and false starts at the beginning and end.

A clean phone recording of a great performance beats a muddy multitrack of an average one.

Video helps, especially for live work

If you're selling a live performance (a band, a DJ set, a vocalist for events), short video is often more persuasive than audio alone. It shows how you hold a room, how you look on stage and how you move. Keep it steady, keep the sound decent and keep it short. One minute is often enough.

Label everything

File names like "final_v3_REAL.wav" do not help anyone. Name your files with your name and what's on them: "Sam Taylor - vocals - soul cover.mp3". Put the same information in the message: what each piece is, what your role was, and whether it's a live take or edited.

If you didn't write or produce something, say so. Being clear about your role is a sign of professionalism, not a weakness.

Make it easy to open

Send a link that plays in a browser without signing up to anything, or attach files small enough to arrive. Check the link works in a private browser window before you send it. Expired download links and private videos are among the most common reasons a good demo never gets heard.

Keep it current

Replace your demo when you get better, when your sound changes, or when you start going for different work. A demo that's two years old describes someone you used to be.

A simple checklist

• One sentence on who it's for and what it needs to prove.
• Two or three pieces, strongest first.
• Your best moment within the first thirty seconds.
• Clear sound with you audible in the mix.
• Files and links named and described properly.
• Tested in a private window before sending.

When you apply to Lumen Agency you can attach up to three samples. The same rules apply: short, clear, strongest first.