RUSSELL TERRELL the Carson, Calif, Nativegrew Upacting in School Musicals Before Relocatingto New York for College

isascience. "It's theraresinger who is ableto getinside the head ofasongwriter release in August through Columbia Records. andexpressthe depth of emotion thatcanreally sella song to anartist," hesays. But ironically, beingarecording artist wasn't initiallyonRaVaughn's radar. She So what's it truly like beingademo singer in 2013? Here,one veteran, one ses- was"makinggreatmoney" doing demos and singing backgrounds for Kelly Clark- sion singer -turned-upstartrecording artist andonesinger/songwriter hopeful son,Leona Lewis, Natasha Bedingfield, Jessica Simpson and others. Besides, she share their journeysonthe demo circuit. recalls, "Iwasheavier then and people weren't lookingat me as anartist. I thought, 'Maybe this is what I'm supposedtodo." RUSSELL TERRELL The Carson, Calif, nativegrew upacting in school musicals before relocatingto New York for college. DuringaChristmas break back home, she auditioned foragirl Asoneof Nashville'stopdemo andmastersession singers, Russell Terrell hasre- group.Thegroupdidn'tpan out,but her relationship with the act's writer/producer, corded backgrounds for demos andmasterrecordingson morethan 16,000songs, Robert "Storm" Daniels (Robin Thickc), did. He enlisted her servicesas ademo 47of whichwereNo. 1 hits. In addition to producer Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Tay- singer. A songwriting session foraSimpson album ledtowork with OneRepublic's lor Swift), Terrell has worked with such notablesasengineer/producer Ben Fowler Ryan Tedder and songwriter/producer Evan Bogart. "From theremy namejust (LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts), songwriter/producer Brett Beavers (Dierks Bentley, spread," RaVaughnsays."Itwaslikeachain reaction." Dustin Lynch) and songwriter Tim Menzies (Trace Adkins, Toby Keith). He's also During thenextfouryears,she worked with songwriters and producers from Rod- sung onalbums by Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw and Lionel Richie,amongothers. neyJerkinstoMike Elizondo. "I can't tellyouhowmanydemos I've done. I've lost Terrell movedtoNashville in 1984tofinish his educationatBelmont University's count," RaVaughnsays. School of Music, where he began working in thecampusstudio for free, grabbing When she first started doing demos, RaVaughnsaysshegotpaid around $25oper anyvocal opportunity he could. "It took11 yearsbefore I quitmylast day job in1995, song.By the time she stopped, shewas up to$400-5500. right after Igot myfirstmasterrecording [on Toby Keith's1994Boomtown)," recalls Shesays mostproducers would let her know if her referenceswerekepton a mas- Terrell, whowasthen employedas adirector of admissions and financial aidat a vo- ter,although inafewcasesshe didn't findoutuntil she heard thesongherselfor was cational school in Nashville. "It's all word-of-mouth, but gradually I builtupenough tipped bysomeoneelse. "There might besongs out nowthatmybackgroundsare steam tomake thisafull-time job." on," RaVaughnsays,"but I've chalked itup.That's the suckypartof the industry." Nowadays, Terrellaverages 900-1,000demosper year."I could bookseven Ongoing word-of-mouth prompted her hiringas abackground singeron"Glee" daysaweek," hesays."Butmyvoice is fried by Friday. I'vegot tohaveacouple for threeseasons.Itwasafteroneof those tapings that she receivedacall from days of downtime." Maintaining his vocal condition, however, isa24/7 gig. Steer- writer/producer Emmanuel "Eman" Kiriakoutorecordademo for him and Ne-Yo. ing clear of wheat, dairy and caffeine, hesayshe also can't "yellat mykids' basket- Now,assheprepsher debut, RaVaughnsaysher demo work laid the foundation for ballor soccergames." hercurrentpath. "I know whattodo andnot todo about beinganartist now." 0 Terrell adds that demo and background singersmustalso be abletokeep "produc- tivityto amaximum and timeto aminimum. You havetomake things roll inatimely Additional reporting by Alex Gale. fashion, because you'reonthe clock, the engineer'sonthe clock and the studio ison the clock." Although Terrellcameclosetorecordingonesolo project and anothergroupproj- ect,henolonger harbors dreams of becomingarecording artist. Seven weekson Time Is Money tourwith Little Texas, standing in foroneof its lead singers, changed his mind. "I'd neverdoneaserioustourand felt the full force of the family sacrifices I hadtomake orhow hard life isonthe road," he recalls. "I saidto mywife, 'You know what? I'm Doing demo vocal work isonething- notsupposedtobeanartist. I'm supposedto stayintownand beasession singer.'" getting paid is another

CHELSEA LENA In the world of demo singing, paymentcan comein several forms. Fees for demo sessionsrangefrom under-the-table favors ($50-$75 in cash, Unlike Terrell, Chelsea Lena is using her profitable democareer as aspring board. "tocover mygas,"onesinger says) to contracted label jobs thatcanbring Fouryears ago,the then -18-year-old Rancho Cucamonga, Calif, native andper- anywhere from $300 to $500. But the biggest paydayscomewhen refer- formingartshigh school graduate movedtoNashville. She studied with vocal coach- encevocalsarelefton acommercially released master recording. esand began writing and demoing herownand others'songs,but relocatedto Los That's where the Screen Actors Guild -American Federation of Television Angelesafew monthsago. and Radio Artistscomesinto play. In Nashville, under the union's standard "Nashvillewas mycollege but I couldn'tstayin school forever," the petite singer publisher demo agreementamongsongwriters, publishing companies and says."I hadto go tothe big leagues." session singers, the lattermostareprotected should the demo be upgraded Lena had dreams of being a solo artist, but quickly found demo workas aprofit- to a master. That protection includes payment for each future use of the able plan B. Lena credits singingondemos for Car- demo, including film, TV and other media. rie Underwood, Demi Lovato and Miranda Lam- "In the digitalage,it's becomea verybigrevenue sourcefor singers," bert,amongothers, for raising her profile in Music saysNashville -based Randall Himes, SAG-AFTRA assistant nationalexecu- City's creative community. Hersongshave been tive director for sound recordings. featuredonABC, CMT and FX's "Justified." Her The scale of the Nashville agreement is $80 for soloists and $70 each for versatility-country,pop,R&B/hip-hop-has led a groupof threeor moresingerson a per-houror per -songbasis, whichever towork with Grammy Award -winning production is greater. There's alsoaminimum call payment of $100. Los Angeles hasa duo the Underdogs, Pulse Recording (hometo demo recording agreement available for singers thereaswell (50% of the pophitmaker Bonnie McKee) and Young Money/ master recording scale, which is described below), but it's notaswidely Cash Money. usedasNashville's; New York doesn't haveademo agreement in place. Now in Los Angeles, Lena is focusedonbecom- Eitherway,when demo vocals become part ofacommercial release, there's ingatopline songwriter and landingapublishing anadditional payment to "upgrade" the recording toa masterrecord- deal. Signedto SESACwhile in Nashville, shesays ing. The union scale fora masterrecording is $218.25perhouror per song she's collaborating withtopwriting/production (whichever is greater) forasolo session, and $99.50 each fora groupwith teamswho have worked with Beyonce, Katy three to eight singers. Perry and Justin Bieber. Still, demo work remains Stefanie Taub, SAG-AFTRA director of sound recordings for Los Ange- important-it helps her gaincontactswith pub- les, specializes in conversion claims. "Oftentimes whenasinger recordsa lishers, producers and songwriters, while also demo, heorshe hasnoidea where that demo is going to end up," shesays. getting paid (seestory,right). Lena estimates "These agreementscoverfutureusesthat maybe weren'tonanyone's mind she's done300-400demos withinafour-year at the time the demowasdone." period, includingsome 7othisyear.Her rule of thumb is simple: However, SAG-AFTRA membershipcomeswithaprice: Initiation fees "You can't sing it better than the artist being pitched. You're only giving themafoot- rangefrom $950 in Nashville to $3,000 in Los Angeles. Qualifying for health printas tohow thesongshould sound intermsof phrasing and melody." and pension benefits requires $10,000 in yearly earnings for individualcov- erageand $30,000 for familycoverage. RaVAUGHN Due to the centralization of major publishing companies along Nashville's Music Row, demo singing there has becomea moreactive and profitable RaVaughn's five-year stintas ademo singer landed her inanunexpected place: In pursuit than in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere, Himessays,estimating 2011,she signedas asolo artist with Ne-Yo's Compound University imprint. After that Music Citysees3,000-4,000 demo sessionsper year. building buzz throughatrack ("Same 01' BS")onthe "Think LikeaMan" soundtrack "Therearemaybe eight to 14 people whoaremakingasignificant

andaneight-songEP (last year's Love Always . ..The Introduction), RaVaughn chart- amount [here], anywhere from just south of six figures to six -figure ed earlier thisyearwith the single "Better Be Good" featuring Wale, which peaked Dionne incomes. And thereare someperformers in the $15,000-$30,000 bracket, Warwick, at No. 24 onBillboard's Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop chart andat No.32 onRhythmic, circa the enough to qualify for health benefits," hesays."We haveanumber of sing- and she just releaseda newsingle, "Best Friend." Her solo debut album is slated for early '60s. erswho makea verygood living off demos." -GM

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