"A&R Reps - The Talent Scouts Of Music"
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Music Publishers |
If you are an artist you have probably dreamed about getting signed to a major recording contract, but the sad truth is that few artists actually know anything about the record companies' personnel who is responsible for discovering new talent, where and when they look to find talent, and what they are looking for in that talent. Now, I could easily write a book on a discussion of A&R but here is a brief overview of it.
The first thing you need to know is who A&R is. A&R is an acronym for Artists and Repertoire and they are representatives who are record company personnel whose job it is to go around and discover new talent and help to develop that talent. The further those reps climb in their business the more they begin to get paid and the more stressful their job becomes.
A&R reps have a huge responsibility to make money for their company and to justify their career positions; because of this A&R reps try to follow the current trends to look for the next big hit or watch and see what reps from other labels are pursuing. Most believe that these reps have signing power within the company but they do not. A&R reps first need to find potential artists, and then get the approval of the record company president, which is the hardest part of the job. All of this makes it extremely hard to be an A&R rep at a label, an average life-span of three years in fact.
Now, if you are trying to get a record deal you probably want to know what these reps are looking for. The key things they are looking for are artists who have potential hit songs, a marketable image, a great live show, signature sound, and long-term career potential. Although it is not a must, reps prefer bands that are business-minded and first help themselves. What that means is artists who press and sell their own recordings, build a strong fan base, establish a strong web presence, and have a clear vision of their goals are far more attractive to record company reps than those who do not.
Now, where do reps discover new talent? A&R reps discover new bands through: surfing the internet for MP3 music files, attending local club performances, listening to college radio stations, independent record labels, reviews in local and nation trade magazines, etc. The best way to get spotted by a rep is to just play music through these different ways and if you are good enough you will get found.
As I said, I could write books about what an A&R rep does, but the basic run down is they are paid by record labels to go out and find potential talent to be signed by that label. If you are an artist looking to get signed I hope understanding what an A&R rep does and how they do it will help you to get signed.
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Brian Cook is a freelance writer whose articles on music and songwriting have appeared on many websites.
You can find more of these at SongwritersGuide.com.
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