If you are in the music industry, you have undoubtably heard the term A&R. Almost anyone and everyone says they are an A&R. Whether this is true or not is a whole separate issue. It maybe true that anyone can be an A&R, but it is not true that everyone is an A&R. So, what exactly dose an A&R do? What is their role in an artists’ career? What makes someone worthy of calling themselves an A&R?
In the 1970s an A&R was responsible for finding new independent artists during live shows with the intention of signing them to a development deal (this was not what most people think of as a record deal, the development deals sole purpose was to tie the artist to this label exclusively with the hopes of the artist one day making money for the label after they have created the right songs) through the record label the A&R is working for (at this time there were three major record labels, Victor, Edison and Columbia). Once signed, the A&R begins to set up studio sessions for the artist to record demo tracks. A demo at this time was a record labels attempt to see how the artist or band sounds in a professional music studio, recording songs that the label has deemed fitting to their sound. In some cases the artists would record their own music for demos, but this was contingent on whether the artist or band were songwriters. These demos were recorded with the intention of finding a cohesive sound and a starting point in developing the artist’s sound and career into a sustainable entity. If the demos were good enough and the label thought something of the artist the ultimate goal was for the label to sign the artist to a “record deal,” that would tie the artist to the label for a certain number of albums and a specified period of time.
The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw the A&R begin to find and sign artists charting on indie charts. With the establishment of radio, music publications and television, an artists placement on “the charts” become increasingly more important. The biggest one then and still today is Billboard. If an artist is charting on any Billboard chart it is considered an accomplishment. If they get a number one, the artist is considered in another category of artistry then their peers. Billboard may not hold the same weight as it once did with the increased importance of streaming, but ask Tekashi 6ix9ine or Nicki Minaj what the importance of having a song reach or debut number one on the Billboard charts. Independent artists with the highest amount of record sales were the ones most sought after by A&Rs at this time. The A&R would try, and in most cases succeeded, in signing these independent artists to the their record label. Once signed, the A&R and label team would begin to create a distinctive image for the artist, along with a signature sound and begin to release music.
With the emergence of social media, digital downloads and digital streaming platforms in the 2010s the A&R began to move away from looking to sign artists that are strictly ranking high on the indie charts and/or artists that have high physical record sales. Instead they are looking to sign artists with a strong online presence (at-least 100k following on Instagram alone), and a high number of streams across the variety of digital streaming platforms. With Spotify being the most popular streaming platform (although with the emergence of “Versus” during the Covid-19 pandemic, Tidal and Elliot Willson and making a strong case for second by putting up the “Versus” playlist almost immediately after the completion of the Instagram Live. Spotify is still head and shoulder above the competition when it comes to podcasts, but that is a different conversion for a different article.) A&Rs today are less worried about the number of physical copies sold, (because lets face it when was the last time you bought a physical disk, and where could you play it at?) And more focused on how many followers the artist has, because the larger the following, the more fans the artists conceivably has, meaning the more money the artist can draw in for the record label. Remember at the end of the day this is called “The Music Business,” so don’t let anyone kid you if you think the major labels care more about the music than they do about making money. There is a reason why you see so many one hit wonders, or an artist that has one viral song get signed and only release one single, or one album, or nothing at all. To a record label, an artist is only as good as their next hit.
Today there are many different types and levels to being an A&R. First, the typical A&R is what you think of when you hear the term. This is a record label (major or independent) representative that is responsible for signing and/or developing talent with intention of public release and sustaining a career. The job of this A&R is to discover talent that can make the label money. Yes, it is in the best interest of the A&R to ensure the artist has a lasting career, (look at what happened with Paul Rosenberg, he signed Eminem and later became the President of Def Jam) but if the artist only creates on major single and a good to decent first (and possibly only) album, then the A&R is able to say he found that artist and can do it again. Second, the A&R scout. This type of A&R is an entry level position who’s responsibility is sifting through the vast amount of artists and songs that get submitted to labels every day. The A&R scout is responsible for attending live shows to find emerging talent, listening to demo submissions from the thousands of artists who send in their music to the label or A&Rs email (solicited or unsolicited), searching music blogs to see which artists are being featured in articles and listening to new releases on all digital streaming platforms to see which songs are most popular on playlists, and which artist are worth a listen from the A&R. Third, is the A&R assistant. This A&R position is responsible for assisting the label A&R with daily tasks, such as scheduling, emailing, fielding phone calls and any other office or personal duties the A&R may need through out the day. This position is generally in the form of an internship (paid or unpaid, but mostly unpaid to begin with, if you are in college most labels will give you class credit) for college students or recent graduates looking for a foot in the door in the music industry. The final type of A&R is the independent A&R. These are the A&Rs that work either for themselves and are, in most cases, not associated with a major label, independent label, production company or publishing company. Before getting to critical about these types of A&Rs, I want to point out that independent A&Rs usually are (in some way or another) more of an artist manager rather then an A&R. They may have their own “label” (whether it is established or not is another issue) they are just starting, (see Carl Crawford and 1501,Meg thee Stallion’s production label) they maybe associated with a production company or publishing company,(in which case they maybe independent only by title as they are associated with a music company but not a major record label) or they may actually independent and have no affiliation at all other then themselves and what ever connections they have (or claim to have). When it comes to these types of A&R, artists have to be careful of what capacity they begin and continue to work with this A&R, as the deals and contracts they sign may not in the best favor or interest of the artist (again see the dispute between Meg thee Stallion and her production company affiliate 1501). In most cases these are the first people finding the artist, and the artist’s first point of contact at the beginning stages of their career. Due to the artists lack of knowledge of the music industry, and the business surrounding music and contracts, these A&Rs or managers tend to take advantage of the artist and situation with unfavorable deals. This is not always the case, but it happens more often than not. As Joe Budden likes to say during his “The Joe Budden Podcast,” “An artist will always get fucked, just hope you are lucky enough that they use lube.”
Once an A&R has recognized an artist with potential or one who is already established but unsigned. (meaning the artist has a large following on social media, the artist has a large local following in their home city and the surrounding area, or the artist has a popular song with a large number of views, plays, streams) they reach out to the artist with an intention of signing them. If the artist chooses to sign with the A&R or manager, this person then becomes the artists’ point of contact when speaking to the label executives and other during the contract negotiations, and other involved parties during this and the on going process. Once the artist has signed a contract with the label, production company or publishing company, it becomes the A&Rs responsibly to facilitate the recording process for the artist. This includes but is not limited to, setting up recording sessions for the artist in various studios on a set schedule for the artist to release music in the timeline created by the label, placing the artist with the correct music producers, beat makers, songwriters, and engineers to ensure the best possible musical product gets created for the direction of the artist’s sound, ensuring the creation of the singles and albums stay on the time line and budget the label has allotted, and finishing with the release and promotion process, including radio play and interview, playlist curation on digital streaming platforms, blog and magazine reviews, articles and write ups and any television appearances.
This process is a little different when it comes to A&Rs who work for music publishing or production companies. While the main goal of these music companies is still to make and release music, they form in which they are doing so varies from that of a normal record label. The main goal for a publishing company revolves around the signing of writers and producers, who can create music not necessarily for themselves but for other artist and sync placements. Due to the business nature of the publishing company, releasing music as an artist is not always the first priority when working with and/or signing an artist. A publishing company is more likely to sign a songwriter of music producer, rather than a solo artist. Publishing companies intention it to have an artist write a song (and possibly demo the song if they can sing, if not get a demo singer to preform the song instead of the writer) then shop the song to major label A&Rs so a major artist can rerecord and release the song as their own. The same goes with a music producer, the publishing company will shop the beats from the producer for a placement on a major artists. If they do have an artist who is not necessarily a writer or producer, the company will begin to shop the artist’s songs for sync placements in television and film. While the company will release music for a solo act or band, if an artist signs with a publishing company and is strictly a performer and not a producer or writer, the artists is most likely signed as a developmental project, with the ultimate goal being for the artist to sign with a major record label. A music publishing company operates in a somewhat similar fashion to a publishing company. However the production company is concerned with the overall development of the artist in a larger capacity that the publishing company. A production company (think Top Dawg Ent, Dreamville, Quality Control) will look for an artist with potential and sign them with the thought process of developing he artist in every aspect of being an artist. TDE did this with Kendrick Lamar, QC did this with Migos, Cardi B and Lil Yatchy, their goal is to make sure the artists on their roster become the best possible artist they can be. These production companies (or in some cases independent labels) are dedicated to the artists they sign for the long haul. It is not necessarily always all about the money as it is with the major record labels. If you speak with an artist from one of these production companies, (excluding Meg thee Stallion at this point) you are more likely to hear about the family atmosphere that surrounds these companies, instead of the major machine, business like atmosphere that is associated with major labels.
The role of the A&R in the music industry has changed drastically over the decades due to the ever changing industry. As music and technology has evolved the role of the A&R has had to evolved with it. With the rise in popularity of digital streaming platforms, A&Rs have had to shift their focus from who is the best and most talented artist preforming right now, to which artist has the largest social media following, strongest online presence and highest streaming numbers. Gone are the days of an A&R discovering a talented act, a great singer, or an artist with a distinctive voice during an open mic or preforming at a small club somewhere (yes this does still happen but it is far less likely than it was before). If an artist doesn’t have the right social media numbers they don’t appear on the radar of the labels or their A&Rs. Major labels are no longer in the business of artist development, and now want an already established act, one who has a large following or an artist with a viral song, because then the label doesn’t have to spend the money to do these things and can focus more on making money from the artist then spending money to break the artist and hoping to recoup. The role of an A&R is less about finding and developing talent and more about finding the artist who can sell the most records, and bring the highest profit to the label regardless of talent and sustainability. The need for an A&R in todays music can be argued. However, what can’t be argued is what a good A&R and a good partnership can do for an artists’ career.
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