DEMO FORMATS AND PACKAGING

Since the 1970s, cassette tapes have been the music industry standard for submissions. Not only do most executives have cassette decks in their cars and homes, but they also have them in their offices. Some may have a personal cassette player to listen to on the run. The convenience of cassette tapes and the accessibility of playback decks over come any sonic limitations of the form.
Before rock music, reel-to-reel tape was the norm for submissions, as were acetates, vinyl versions of songs and low-budget records in a test format. These were commonly made by music publishers to play for artists and record companies. Even though digital audio tape (DAT) is beginning to make some inroads, it's safe to say that it will probably never be as accessible as cassette tape. The latest technological wrinkle is the digital cassette tape, which was developed in Japan and is now available in the United States.

ABOUT CASSETTE TAPES Although new technologies are developing constantly, cassette tapes are here to stay. They are conveniently sized and can be reproduced inexpensively via built-in microphones. They are affordable by virtually every segment of our society. Because of this, a huge number of cassette tapes are purchased each year. Even though this format is losing ground to the CD, the cassette remains the people's medium.
Most cassette decks will accept three formulations of cassette tape: normal bias, chrome or high position tape, and metal tape. Although many prerecorded tapes are still generated in the normal range for cassette duplication, it is recommended that you use chrome, or high position tape. These tapes sound good and actually play back with more of the high frequencies than are recorded onto them. The downside to this sonic excitement is the noise generated by more high frequencies. In most forms of popular music, however, this is not a problem. Metal tape, made from chromium dioxide metal particles, is capable of recording and playing back at higher decibel levels than chrome or normal tape, but again, a significant amount of noise is generated. Normal tape is the cheapest, metal the most expensive, and high position or chrome is in the middle.
No industry professional would ever consider submitting songs on a commercial tape that can be purchased from the local stereo store, no matter what the grade or manufacturer. For making multiple copies of songs on tape as a part of a publishing demo or an artist package, it's necessary to give a good first impression. Fortunately, it's possible to create a good-looking and professional package by following a few strategic guidelines.
Cassette tapes can be purchased in bulk from a reputable company that specializes in custom length tapes. This is the cheapest way to purchase tapes. These companies acquire enormous industrial reels of tape and subdivide it into the "act configuration you need (i.e. five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes, etc.), then load the tapes into the shells and ship or sell them to you. Note: It is best if your submissions fit on only one side of a cassette tape. The tape should be no longer than thirty minutes. Longer tapes are actually thinner, with a proportionate loss of quality.

About Duplication When duplicating cassette tapes you have a choice of two methods. One method: Your master tape is played on a master playback machine that feeds the signal to ten or more slave cassette machines simultaneously. This process is repeated until the requisite number of tapes are made. The cassette recorders should record at so-called normal speed for this process. High speed is common for spoken word tapes but should never be used for music.
Although this process is very common, it has some distinct disadvantages. Identical decks have individual characteristics, and ten tape decks can have ten sets of quirks in their sounds as well as differing frequency responses. Since it's not feasible for you to listen to every single tape you send, quality control is virtually impossible.
When duplicating a number of tapes, have the facility make test copies. After paying the facility, take the tapes home and listen to them repeatedly: in the car, in your home studio, wherever you're used to listening to music. Compare these copies to the reference tape that you (hopefully) had made at the studio where you recorded. Make sure that the copies sound as good as the reference tape. Keep in mind that most top of the line recording studios have five or more sets of playback speakers, ranging from tiny little Aurotones to monster JBL earth-shaking cabinets. Beware the big, bad speakers, since they can certainly cloud your perceptions of the music by sheer force of kinesthetic thunder.

Often your master tape, even a DAT, will need equalization to make the tape copy come out right. The importance of taking your time with this can't be overemphasized. If your duplicating facility balks at allowing you to take your time and listen thoroughly, go elsewhere immediately! Watch for tape speed discrepancies also, since cassette decks typically run at faster or slower speeds depending on their age, make, and wear and tear.
The other method of duplicating cassettes is by making what is known as a bin loop master tape on 1/2' recording tape or a comparable professional format from your master tape. The bin loop master has tones at the beginning and the end of the musical information that are used to tell the duplicating machines when to begin and end recording. A pancake of cassette tape (generally in a 5,000- to 10,000-foot length) is then loaded into a special duplicating machine. The tape is recorded and loaded into cassette shells with only the exact length of tape necessary in each shell.
The advantages to duplicating this way are many. Since there is only one recording machine, the inherent problems of different machines and quality control are eliminated. Also, cassette tapes recorded in the shell will have a certain amount of variable wow and flutter, since the cassette itself is basically a cheap object, and much better used in a playback rather than a record mode. By recording with a bin loop master, a high quality of sound can consistently be achieved. Note: Even if you have to pay for set up of the bin loop master, have test cassettes made first. Duplicating and reduplicating tape copies until the proper sound is achieved is frustrating, time consuming and expensive.
Always ask for reference cassettes of anything you wish to have duplicated. Take them home and listen to them repeatedly. Be a stickler, and above all, trust your instincts -because it's your music.

About Shell-on Printing. In recent years, clear plastic cassette shells have become popular. These shells were first developed by the Shape Company, which designed them with an azimuth bridge piece that held the tape in place to control tape movement that could adversely affect sound. These shells have been endlessly replicated by other companies without the bridge piece, but in the same plastic configuration, usually with a graphite piece inside. The clear shells are very attractive with shell-on printing: Song titles and other information are duplicated directly on the cassette shell. In this process, a mechanical plate of the appropriate information is made. The information is then transferred via a stamping mechanism. The set up for this process alone can add at least $35 to your budget. But if you are creating a product for sale, for an artist package, or if you have a generous budget (and high aspirations), you may wish to investigate the possibility of shell-on printing.

Labels
Printing facilities can create a duplicate cassette label from your camera-ready master for a very low price. Commercially generated labels can be duplicated in bulk and come in a variety of colors. Unless your band is on the outer fringes, use a simply colored label-white, beige, light gray, etc. Make sure that any information on your tape is easy to read (it will be with the aforementioned colors), and beware the dreaded slippery labels to which nothing will adhere, especially typewriter letters. Use easy-to-read print styles, such as Times or Helvetica, for information.
Always include this information on your label: 1. Song title(s) 2. Songwriter name(s)
3. Artist name (if an artist package) 4. Copyright date (e.g., 01992) 5. A contact telephone number

ABOUT J-CARDS Other information such as length of songs, pertinent publishing information and performing rights affiliation (if applicable) should be on the J-cards, or cassette box inserts. J-cards are named for their distinctive shape, which resembles the letter J when folded to fit into the cassette box. The cards are made from cardboard (though not too stiff, they need to fold neatly) and printed on either side, front and back, plus the spine. Many record companies add more foldout panels to their releases for lyrics, but for our purposes we'll examine the single, two-sided J-card. The front cover should be a picture of the artist or cover artwork for an artist submission package. Always keep in mind that this is a small-scale format, and that simple uncluttered photos and art are preferable.
To properly duplicate J-cards, you'll need camera-ready art. If using a photo, it will have to be screened for duplication. Screening is a process by which photos are prepared for mass duplication by creating a dot image of the photo. A typesetter, lithographer or stat house can help you create the dot image from either a positive or a negative image, and a typesetter can help to set the type to construct the J-card. If you have access to a computer and laser printer, you can even do it yourself Keep in mind that your master must be the exact size for duplication.
Include this information on your J-card: 1. Song title(s)
2. Songwriter name(s) 3. Publishing information (if applicable)
4. Performing rights affiliation (if applicable) 5. Studio and engineer names (artist demos) 6. Producer name (artist demos) 7. Musician names (artist demos) 8. Contact phone number

Don't Thank Everyone: Not Yet! You may have seen cassette J-cards with panel upon panel of acknowledgements and thank you. For a demo, this is presumptuous and pretentious. Save it for your album. But never forget to include songwriter names; it seems astounding, but many record companies exclude this information on their releases, despite education and lobbying from songwriter organizations. For artist demos and submissions, acknowledging musicians is only proper. But if you or your producer have used sequencing or sampling, it's not necessary to include this information, particularly if it sounds real! Some artists make up names for fictitious musicians to give the impression that more people are involved in the project.

ABOUT O-CARDS 0-cards are simply four-sided sleeves that completely surround the cassette tapes. They have information printed on the front and back and are then shrink-wrapped. If you've seen cassette singles for sale in your local retail outlet, these are generally packaged with 0-cards. These cards are printed in a flat format. One side of the card is then glued, creating the 0 effect. The advantage to this format is that no tape box is used, saving money in preparing the tapes. Tapes with 0-cards are suitable for sale at gigs or retail stores. One disadvantage in using the shrink-wrapped, 0-card format for presentation and submissions to music industry people is that it takes time to remove shrink- wrap, and, believe it or not, this simple effort may keep your tape from being played. Unless you are in the business of merchandising tapes, it's better to stick to the cassette-box format.

ABOUT TAPE BOXES The plastic cassette boxes are referred to as Norelco boxes after their manufacturer. Even though they have been duplicated, all boxes of this type share identical characteristics: They are easily smudged, scratched, dropped and broken, but are relatively cheap in bulk and allow the contents, your tape and J-card, to be clearly seen. The soft plastic boxes that are hinged on the end are opaque, so their contents aren't as visible. They're not as effective in making presentations when pictures and graphics are important. However, they do retain their shape well, so for submissions to a publisher they are actually preferable. These cheaper boxes will help keep overall costs down if you send out a lot of submissions.

CONCLUSION Coordination of all elements of your presentation is the true mark of professionalism. Integration of your image, sound, tape and J-card should give you the best possible shot at getting noticed. You can get many good ideas by examining the commercial products in your local record store. The presentation of your music won't make it any better; ultimately, it is your music that will sell your act. Still, a professional presentation will most likely guarantee your music at least a listen.

SAMPLE LABEL Be sure to include
Song title
Artist
Copyright date
Songwriter's name
Telephone number