demo CD for our band - how many songs?

nickp

I'm talking to a studio about doing a demo CD for the band to help with getting gigs.

I'm thinking about doing a "live" recording of a few songs in a local studio. How many songs to you think - for our website and for a cd - three perhaps?  we are a rock cover's outfit 

don't want to spend a fortune; just need a foot in the door at event specialists and other venues

thanks everyone

jpfamps

3 songs should be enough.

Avoid long intros at all costs. Most venues / promoters probably won't listen much beyond the first 30 seconds anyway.

A good strategy, which we have found useful, is to splice together short (20-30 sec) sections from a few songs to give a flavour of the band's repetoire.

Go straight in with the vocals in these. If you have good BVs use sections where these are highlighted. 

RocknRollDave

Quality over quantity every time. Made the mistake too many times of trying to squeeze too many songs into the time available, rather than getting 3 songs done properly.