We are taught to give a firm handshake, to look people in the eyes and smile, to sit straight, articulate, place the napkin on our laps and clean our mouths when eating. In a society built on first impressions, we’re encouraged to follow proper protocol and social manners in order to present the best version of ourselves.
Some say, “Never judge a book by its cover,†but it’s the cover that stimulates a viewer’s heart, mind and soul to open the book. If the presentation isn’t captivating, then the book may never be opened.
With this in mind, always present yourself in the way you want to be known and remembered. More often than not, your resume or demo package is your first introduction to your new start/new life. I believe that if you can learn to master the art of presentation, you will have the best shot at any job you want or getting your demo heard out of thousands of submissions.
Being the music executive that I am, I get countless demo submissions daily. Even with the team I have, it is not humanly possible for us to listen to them all. So, to weed through them quickly and effectively, I look for packages that stand out.
You might be the illest lyricist, most creative with the dopest delivery, but if you don’t know how to present yourself well in your demo package, you’ll end up in the recycling bin—literally.
In my 10 years of being in this business, I can remember three very distinct demo packages. All three vary different but they stood out for some reason or another.
The first package was from a group called Sweetest Candie. They sent a beautiful wooden Godiva chocolate box. Inside, the box was laced with their pictures (which looked very professional), their CD (4 studio-quality tracks), a well-written and typed bio with contact information and a bunch of chocolate candy that was wrapped in paper saying “Sweetest Candie.†I couldn’t wait to hear what the music sounded like after receiving my package.
The second package was a CD player and headphones with a sticker that said press play accompanied by a bio and a picture. The presentation made it effortlessly convenient to press play and listen…so I did.
The third package is memorable not for being great, but because it became the laughing stock of my office. This brother decided to send me Polaroid shots of him in his boxers, him on the beach in Speedos, pictures of his kids, a hand written bio on copy paper, and a cassette tape. Not even a regular cassette tape…a mini one. I saved that package for a very long time…but for all the wrong reasons. LOL! Even now as I think about it I can’t help but chuckle.
We live in a visual society, so the first assessment a person will make of you will be based on what their eyes can see or what their ear can hear (as in my field). At first glance, who you are, where you’re from, and what you’re capable of doing counts for nothing if no one else cares to find out.
Yandy Smith is a music management powerhouse and co-founder/CEO of Everything Girls Love, a lifestyle, Web publishing and fashion brand. With valuable experience collaborating alongside entertainment heavyweight Mona Scott-Young at multimedia conglomerate Violator Management, and later, Monami Entertainment, she has worked with music industry greats including 50 Cent, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, and Jim Jones.