Does Sound or Recording Quality Matter?

The short answer, YES. In today’s world where everything is at an arms reach, A&R’s want to hear something of great quality. Of course like anything in life there are exceptions to the rule but they are far and few between. In a sea of submissions these guys/gals are skimming tracks to see what stands out. If they hear a less than acceptable quality song they will move on. Besides, why should a label invest in your product when you won’t invest in it?

Another key factor an A&R will look at is the impact that your brand has on social media. How many quality followers do you have? Growing a fan base is easier if you have a great sound. If it sounds professional it will be respected as a professional product.

Now recording at home or at a friend’s house is not a bad thing, as long as there isn’t a lot of background noise in your recording. Your files could be sent to a professional mix engineer. The mix engineer will take your files and blend them in a way to maximize the message of your song. As you record at home, be mindful of  clipping (distorting) any audio as well as making sure your punch ins/outs are clean. Also send a reference of what you think the song should sound like. This serves as a road map to the mix engineer.

I know, I can hear you saying “I recorded my song a while ago and I do not have access to those files. What can you do?” Good question. Your song might be salvageable by a Mastering Engineer. A professional can work wonders. Here’s an example of a song that needed a little bit of TLC. The first 30 seconds are the submitted mix and the last 30 seconds are what the mastering engineer did to bring it to industry standard levels. Click here for sample (Explicit Lyrics).

In closing, the quality of the recording does matter. It matters because you never know what song is a hit. Once you remove the variable of quality, the song will reveal itself both to your audience and hopefully the A&R at the label.