I would like to point out that an a&r guy doesn’t always sit around on the couch in his office looking for brand new music to sign to a deal. In fact, I would even say that the majority of his time, is spent working with the artists that are already on his roster. Even deeper, the label guys whose only responsibility is a&r, is a very small community. Think about the fact that there are only four majors now. Often times the same a&r guy will perform his duties for several imprints under the same music company. Think about Geffen/A&M/Interscope. It’s all about branding. A hip/hop act won’t be branded as well on Interscope (traditionally rock & roll) as it would be on Geffen. Take Avery Lipman for example, he signed rock act Godsmack to Universal Republic and hip-hop artist Chamillionaire to Universal Motown.

Back to label guys doing only a&r though…that only works for the companies that can afford to have a guy or more, just doing that. Indie labels that are only working with 3 or 5 artists are rarely looking for new acts to sign, and when they do, it is a collective and calculated effort to get the band on board. Case in point. I know of a band that got an indie deal a certain amount of time back, they are now enjoying a nice buzz in L.A. Another band got a major deal. Both of the records had about the same recording schedule, but the one signed to the major hasn’t even gotten their record released yet!

So I’ll say it again. a&r is just an extension of what you are already doing—deciding why you like a certain project and figuring out what you might like to do differently in order to make it better.

Who have you discovered lately?

What in the World is a&r anyway? The two letters stand for “Artists and Repertoire.” What does that mean? The label representative searches out artists that he believes possess talent and have a potential to be successful under the guidance of a label. When the artist is then signed to a contract, the repertoire duties are satisfied by pairing with the artist a team of individuals who can help craft all of the ingredients it takes to make a hit act. Those team members may include songwriters, producers, a creative recording space, song order for the album, a radio single, a video (with director and concept), and more. The a&r guy oversees the creative process of a band or artists career.

Here is how Joel Mark (Creed, Sigur Ros) from MCA in Los Angeles describes it.

[An a&r guy] “Helps the band make their records. And they understand the music better than anyone else, hopefully they come from a musical background. Sometimes they’re just very intuitive people, but I prefer it if they are musicians themselves. An A&R should be able to explain to a band what their strong points are, and what they are lacking. Then either direct them to people who can help them with their weaknesses, or offer advice on how to overcome them.”

Are there any bands that you are curious about who their a&r guy is?

The first tangible lesson that I learned about a&r was that a fantastic live show doesn’t necessarily translate into a hit act. You’ve got to remember that it is the hit song that drives the sale of a recording, otherwise known as good content selling records.

But these days, it isn’t all about the sale of a recording. Arguably starting with the Grateful Dead, the live show became the income stream of a band or artist making their living. (It was a pretty fantastic deal for Celine Dion to sign on in Las Vegas to perform live and slow down on her recorded music, am I right?). And now Radiohead giving “In Rainbows” away for free and thus manufacturing an army of people who know the record coming out to the live show.

But back to the hit song. If you find a collection of them, great! You might as well have just found a Nashville songwriter, which is a good thing. But the special thing to find is a hit act, the band/artist who writes hit songs and performs them in an unforgettable manner, both recorded and live. Then and there is when you move. Within the relationship, everything has to be a win-win situation. The band/artist make winning music and you as the a&r guy have to mesh with the work ethic that fosters their hits—meanwhile delivering the ingredients translating into more fans jumping on board everyday. Sounds a lot like management, right? Welcome to the new a&r.

Three hit acts from the top of my head are Mute Math, Switchfoot and Edison Glass. Who do you know of that makes hit songs and backs them up by being a hit act?

Hello. Welcome to a&r Notes.com. It is all of my pleasure to be here with you. I do indeed hope that the conversations we will have can add to a quality of life for each who is involved. I believe in working together, not keeping your knowledge and ideas secret in order to keep the next guy out. I’ve been that next guy kept out; and I have come to find that it is certainly an advantage to work together, it’s always been that way, and it will continue to be that way.  So let’s kick it.

What are some of the things you want to learn about a&r?