In the world of demo singing, payment can come in several forms. Fees for demo sessions range from under-the-table favors ($50-$75 in cash, “to cover my gas,” one singer says) to contracted label jobs that can bring anywhere from $300 to $500. But the biggest paydays come when reference vocals are left on a commercially released master recording.
That’s where the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists comes into play. In Nashville, under the union’s standard publisher demo agreement among songwriters, publishing companies and session singers, the lattermost are protected should the demo be upgraded to a master. That protection includes payment for each future use of the demo, including film, TV and other media.
“In the digital age, it’s become a very big revenue source for singers,” says Nashville-based Randall Himes, SAG-AFTRA assistant national executive director for sound recordings.
The scale of the Nashville agreement is $80 for soloists and $70 each for a group of three or more singers on a per-hour or per-song basis, whichever is greater. There’s also a minimum call payment of $100. Los Angeles has a demo recording agreement available for singers there as well (50% of the master recording scale, which is described below), but it’s not as widely used as Nashville’s; New York doesn’t have a demo agreement in place. Either way, when demo vocals become part of a commercial release, there’s an additional payment to “upgrade” the recording to a master recording. The union scale for a master recording is $218.25 per hour or per song (whichever is greater) for a solo session, and $99.50 each for a group with three to eight singers.
Stefanie Taub, SAG-AFTRA director of sound recordings for Los Angeles, specializes in conversion claims. “Oftentimes when a singer records a demo, he or she has no idea where that demo is going to end up,” she says. “These agreements cover future uses that maybe weren’t on anyone’s mind at the time the demo was done.”
However, SAG-AFTRA membership comes with a price: Initiation fees range from $950 in Nashville to $3,000 in Los Angeles. Qualifying for health and pension benefits requires $10,000 in yearly earnings for individual coverage and $30,000 for family coverage.
Due to the centralization of major publishing companies along ÂNashville’s Music Row, demo singing there has become a more active and profitable pursuit than in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere, Himes says, estimating that Music City sees 3,000-4,000 demo sessions per year.
“There are maybe eight to 14 people who are making a significant amount [here], anywhere from just south of six figures to six-figure incomes. And there are some performers in the $15,000-$30,000 bracket, enough to qualify for health benefits,” he says. “We have a number of singers who make a very good living off demos.”