I recently produced a demo for a local band from Boston. They had a really unique twist on what they wanted for a demo and how they wanted to package it. They came to me because I could offer them both mixing services as well as mastering services.
They wanted several formats including a DDP file. Rather than send it out for duplication they wanted it replicated. This way they were sure it would play on any CD player. Nothing worse than a club owner slipping your CD into his player and the thing won't play, duplicates are not reliable.
They brought with them their recent CD release and we loaded it into Pro Tools. The demo started with a ripping chorus that within 3 seconds ducked behind the band sitting around talking about their mission, their music and social media presence every few seconds we would introduce a new snip-it highlighting each band members unique contribution ending with the pitch and contact information. The whole thing lasted 32 seconds.
It sounded more like a commercial than a demo, what a great idea. I also provided them with edited versions to be included in radio promotions. Club owners generally only listen too a few seconds of any demo so this format grabs them immediately, intrigues them, and by the time they figure out whats going on the band got their whole pitch out. What a great idea. Can't wait for the updates.
