Do you promote the songs you demo?

We are not in the promotion business. We are a recording studio. We will produce

a professional recording of your song that will compete in today's competitive marketplace.

However, we do offer books for sale on the art of promotion.

We also can recommend a few tip sheets that will give you the names of

producers, publishers & recording executives that are seeking new material.

Quite a few of our demo clients have received publishing contracts and a few

have received royalty payments but this has been a result of their own promotional efforts.

I'm a beginning songwriter. Where can I get some information on the subject?

We offer some great books for sale on the art of

songwriting and lyric writing that will give you expert advice in crafting good songs.

How do I know if my songs are good enough? Are they ready to demo?

Listen to the radio, listen to the records making

money today, and ask yourself if your songs can compete with the top hits.

If you can honestly say your songs are just as good as the ones you hear on the

top 40 radio stations then you are ready for a demo.

Why should I come to Thomas Roller Productions for my demo?

We offer a state-of-the-art digital recording facility;

We are located in Los Angeles, California with a variety of untapped talent.

We have country singers, r&b singers, rappers, Spanish vocalists, you name it.

We also offer the best prices around. We encourage you to download free  

MP3 samples  and hear some sample recordings.

Check out our testimonial page. Find out what our customers are saying.

We also read and write music; this is especially important to writers that have

lead sheets or music manuscripts. We can actually read your printouts.

Your prices are very reasonable. How come your competition is so much more expensive?

We know some recording studios charge $500 and up for a full band recording. 

It is not difficult to offer a great demo for this kind of money;

What is difficult, however, is to offer a state-of-the-art professional demo for under $160;

and most songwriters need good solid demos at affordable rates.

No one in this business gives a better quality demo for the price.

What is a song demo? How good does it have to be?

I am a singer: How can you help me?

If you have a band or play an instrument you can record at our studio in

Los Angeles.  If you are in need of a band we can produce professional backing tracks

and you can overdub your lead vocals; If you live out of state we can send you the

tracks on CD and you can take this to a local recording facility.

I send my songs to the majors and I keep getting rejection letters?

At some point every songwriter faces rejection.

Even big time stars receive bad reviews and records that do not sell.

Beginning songwriters face an uphill battle just to get major publishers to even

listen to their songs. Getting a major label cut is even a greater task.

Good things do not come easy. Be patient. Above all, keep writing.

Every new song you create should be a little better than the last one.

Keep writing and keep showcasing your talent.

What do you think of songwriting contests?

We devote a page to songwriting contests.

Generally speaking, any place you can get your songs critiqued by industry

professionals is a good thing; The bigger contests (John Lennon, Billboard, and others etc.)

 have been around for many years and have solid reputations.

What is a lead sheet?

A lead sheet is simply your song written down on paper. The melody line is

included with the chords and lyrics. See an example of a lead sheet.

In most cases you will never need a lead sheet. In rare cases,

when a client wants his melody followed exactly I suggest ordering

a lead sheet; I then transcribe the melody to paper exactly as the recording;

Then I have my vocalist read the lead sheet.

Most major publishers still want lead sheets for their song catalog,

but they will usually absorb this cost and not the songwriter.

What are B.M.I. and A.S.C.A.P.?

Broadcast Music Inc. and American Society of Composers and Publishers

are clearance societies; They will collect your royalties every time your songs

are played on the radio. When your songs are published, that publisher will

be affiliated with a clearance society. You in turn will have to become a member

 in order to collect royalties. More info here.

I have an album ready to go and I want to make a CD, but most plants want me to

buy 500 - 1000 CDs. I want to start off small. Can you help?

We were the pioneers in offering major label quality short run CD copies.

We have award winning graphic artists that will design a great cover for you;

 We use the top graphic software (Photoshop/Quark/Illustrator/PageMaker)

for compatibility with the major duplication houses so you can use our design

at another facility in the future.