Inside the Music Industry

[smoothmoniker]

Originally posted by Electrophile
What does an A&R guy do?

The job is changing. A&R stands for "Artists and Repertoire”. They are the “green light” guys at the label, who can sign an artist and start a project. They find material for an artist to sing, or if the artist writes their own material, the A&R guy will cull through their songs and choose which ones make the final record.

The A&R guy will also pick the radio single, and coordinate with the radio promotions and marketing team at the label. Here’s where the job has changed – labels have become fiercely competitive even in-house. A&R people change labels so quickly, that their own track record at signing bands is more important than the success of the label. So every A&R person is competing against the others at his own label to secure songs, to secure the best release date, to get the best radio and marketing guys to work on his project instead of someone else’s.

Making a record is kind of an advocacy system. The manager is the advocate for the artist, the A&R guy is the advocate for the label, and the Producer is hopefully the advocate for the project (often a liason).

-sm