A demo version or demo of a song (shortened from the word "demonstration") is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for musicians to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists. Musicians often use demos as quick sketches to share with bandmates or arrangers; in other cases a songwriter might make a demo to send to artists in hopes of having the song professionally recorded, or a music publisher may need a simple recording for publishing or copyright purposes. This article or section contains speculation and may try to argue its points. ... Compact audio cassette Magnetic tape is a non-volatile storage medium consisting of a magnetic coating on a thin plastic strip. ... A compact disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... In popular music an arrangement is a setting of a piece of music, which may have been composed by the arranger or by someone else. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... This article deals with contemporary popular music publishing. ... Copyright symbol Copyright is a set of exclusive rights regulating the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. ...

Many unsigned bands and artists record demos in order to obtain a recording contract. These demos are usually sent to record labels in hopes that the artist will be signed onto the label's roster and allowed to record a full-length album in a professional recording studio. However, large record labels usually ignore unsolicited demos that are sent to them by mail; artists generally must be more creative about getting the demos into the hands of the people who make decisions for the record company. A recording contract (commonly called a record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. ...

Songwriters' and publishers' demos are recorded with minimal instrumentation - usually just an acoustic guitar or piano, and the vocalist. Both Elton John and Donovan gained studio experience early in their careers by recording publishers' demos for other artists, since their managers also handled music publishing. For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE[2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a five-time Grammy and one-time Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... Donovan (Donovan Philips Leitch, born May 10, 1946, in Maryhill, Glasgow) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ...

Many signed bands and artists record demos of new songs before recording an album. The demos may allow the artist to provide sketches for sharing ideas with bandmates, or to explore several alternate versions of a song, or to quickly record many proto-songs before deciding which ones merit further development. An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... A song is a relatively short musical composition. ...

Demos are typically recorded on relatively crude equipment such as "boom box" cassette recorders, or small four-track or eight-track machines, but sometimes they capture the feeling or intent of the artist better than the final version of the song, after the input of managers, producers and sound engineers. Lou Reed sought out a studio in the late 1980s to record his New York album, where the polished sound would satisfy him as much as that of the rough cassettes he'd been making at home. (The B-side to the album's single was actually a transferred home tape.)^{[citation needed]} A cassette deck is a player, or player/recorder, for compact audio cassettes. ... The Tascam 85 16B analogue tape recorder can record 16 tracks of audio on 1 inch (2. ... Audio engineering is the branch of engineering dealing with the production of sound through mechanical means. ... Lewis Reed[1] (born March 2, 1942) is an American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. ... New York is a 1989 album by Lou Reed. ... In recorded music, the terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which singles have been released since the 1950s. ...

Demo recordings are seldom heard by the public, although some artists do eventually release rough demos in rarities compilation albums or box sets. Other demo versions have been unofficially released as bootleg recordings, such as The Beatles' Kinfauns Demos. Several artists have eventually made official releases of demo versions of their songs as albums or companion pieces to albums. The event of a demo tape appearing on eBay has happened in the past, with the recordings being leaked onto the internet. A compilation album is an album (music or spoken-word) featuring tracks from one or multiple recording artists, often culled from a variety of sources (such as studio albums, live albums, singles, demos and outtakes. ... A box set (sometimes referred to as a boxed set) is one or more musical recordings, films, television programs, or other collection of related things that are contained in a box. ... For other uses, see Bootleg. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... The cover of Kum Back; the first ever Beatles bootleg album to hit the market. ...

Notable officially-released demo versions include:

• Keith Whitley, "Tell Lorrie I Love Her" and "'Till A Tear Becomes A Rose", both released posthumously.
• Nirvana, "With the Lights Out" box set
• Sarah MacLachlan, The Freedom Sessions
• Pete Townshend, several collections titled Scoop
• PJ Harvey, 4-Track Demos
• Pearl Jam, Lost Dogs
• Sex Pistols' Spunk, originally a bootleg album.
• Bruce Springsteen's demos for Nebraska were released as the final album after band arrangements proved unworkable
• Jimi Hendrix's song "The Wind Cries Mary", on the Are You Experienced? album and various best-ofs
• Fall Out Boy's songs "Hand of God" and "Austin, We Have A Problem" from the From Under The Cork Tree Sessions
• The Beatles' Anthology releases included many demo versions
• John Lennon's Milk and Honey album with Yoko Ono contains two unfinished song demos; Lennon's "Grow Old With Me", unable to be finished due to Lennon's death (and the last recording he completed), and Ono's "Let Me Count The Ways", which was purposely left unfinished. (Both songs were inspired by poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whom Lennon and Ono admired, and were special to the couple.)
• Emperor, Wrath of the Tyrant
• Metallica, No Life 'Till Leather
• Melvins, Mangled Demos From 1983
• Christina Aguilera, Just Be Free
• Jennifer Knapp, The Collection
• System of a Down has had four demo tapes throughout 1995-1997.
• The Zombies' Zombie Heaven box set contains nearly an entire disc of demos.
• Trivium, Trivium (EP)
• Mayhem, Pure Fucking Armageddon