Cassettes, CDs, DAT's - What do I send to A&R?
by Tim Brennan

Just a few years ago, some advice suggested that most A&R listened to demos in the car but were likely to have only cassette players in their cars. In a recent conversation with Jay Kijek, Assistant A&R for Columbia in Chicago, he revealed how things have changed. "CD's are definitely the main thing we listen to," he told us. "But the new thing is enhanced CDs. Bands are including bios, photos, video clips and more along with their demo songs. Tell your bands that if they want to stand a head above others, send us enhanced CDs."

Bio Photos - How ugly are you people?
by Tim Brennan

A personal rant: stop sending photos where everybody is hidden in the shadows, or worse yet - standing in front of a brick building. I don't care about the building or about your choice of scenery. A bunch of band members standing 10 feet apart from each other in an open field or among a scrap heap make you look like friendless losers who can't even stand each other. If you can't hire a good photographer, at least get a bunch of promo photos of your favorite band and try to duplicate them with your members in their positions. At least then you'll have something to start from. Most of all, the band photo has to make you look good when shrunk down to a one inch square.