Music Career Finder

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  • A&R stands for “Artist & Repertoire”
  • Today, the role of A&R involves finding, signing, and developing artists
  • Other responsibilities may include overseeing the recording process and doing marketing and promotion
  • Record labels are not signing as many artists as they used to, so there are fewer A&R career opportunities
  1. Introduction
  2. What Is A&R?
  3. What an A&R Rep Does
    1. Finding Talent
    2. Overseeing the Recording Process
    3. Artist Development
    4. Assisting with Marketing and Promotion
  4. The Future of A&R
  5. How To Get Into A&R
  6. What Musicians Need to Know About A&R
  7. References

What is A&R? And do musicians still need A&R professionals?

What Is A&R?

A&R stands for “Artist & Repertoire” and was originally a role within record labels tasked with identifying, attracting, and developing the talent for the record companies.

But A&R roles have evolved as the music industry has changed drastically since the adoption of the internet, file sharing, and streaming services.

While A&R jobs do still exist, the modern A&R Representative does not necessarily work exclusively for the record company. They might also manage bands, promote clubs, or run small record labels.

What an A&R Rep Does

The roles and responsibilities of an A&R professional today can include the following…

Finding Talent

An A&R coordinator’s main job is to find marketable music for the company.

Scouting new talent involves going to clubs and concerts, networking with studios and producers, and getting to know various music “scenes,” whether local, college-oriented, theme or style-based, or online. Scouting usually also includes reading industry publications and listening to demo submissions.

It might sound like a glamorous job, hanging out at music clubs and visiting music venues nightly. But there’s a lot of pressure to find and sign successful talented acts and to help promote them.

Once they’ve identified where the raw talent can be found, they must then have the ability to talk with them in terms both sides of a deal can understand, with the goal being to develop the music and artist image in a way that will appeal to more and more fans.

A&Rs need to deliver consistently, and it’s rare that anyone lasts for a long time in this job. Historically, some A&Rs seem to have had a special talent or sense of knowing intuitively what would make an act successful with fans.

Overseeing the Recording Process

While the A&R is responsible for finding and signing new talent, the job doesn’t end there.

A&R Reps work closely with the artist during the recording process. They help with selecting songs, finding a producer, and booking a studio for recording.

They act as the record company’s representative during the recording process, and they may be involved in many decisions affecting the production process.

They could also be in charge of handling payments to the artist or recording studio, booking the recording sessions, approving personnel and artistic decisions, and getting food could be part of the job.

"The hardest part of A&R is getting your artists to deliver their album. ...Because their project's their baby and a lot of [times], artists are insecure with their music at some points in it. And you know, that's a big thing...[it's] a very vulnerable situation for artists to give music to the world for the world to critique them." — Dallas Martin, A&R at Atlantic, owner of Asylum Records (A&R for Roddy Ricch and Meek Mill)1

Artist Development

Many of these A&R roles could be classified as “artist development.”

Artist development is a much broader term than A&R and includes business development, artistic development, training, and matching the output and marketing materials for an artist to their target demographic.

Assisting with Marketing and Promotion

While the internet has transformed music marketing and promotion away from record companies and many artists embrace a “do-it-yourself” approach, the modern A&R may be involved in crafting the image identity of the artist to appeal to the target audience.

Aside from the music, elements of style must be communicated effectively so that they resonate with the intended audience. There needs to be a backstory to the artist and a branding strategy to attract and maintain the engagement of fans.

Artists need support from the label to create and manage their promotional strategies and often this also becomes part of the job of the A&R.

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The Future of A&R

With the ability of musicians to connect directly with fans on the internet, A&R’s role has diminished from its heyday.

However, A&R in today’s music industry comprises a broader scope of activities than it used to.

While the old-school model of A&R Reps matching artists with songs and labels has largely disappeared, there are still relevant roles in the modern music industry for A&R Reps. This will likely continue in the future.

Since the major labels aren’t signing as many artists as they used to, many A&R Reps tend to work independently, partnering with artists, bands, and smaller labels to identify and sign talent, develop and refine their music, and market directly to their fans.

The line has become blurred between A&R, live and studio production, management, artist development, publishing, and music marketing. The A&R of today and tomorrow must wear many hats.

That being said, the major labels have retained their A&R departments, though in a diminished role, and rely on the services of talented A&R Reps. There are just fewer of them since fewer acts are being signed.

How To Get Into A&R

Most A&R Coordinators (AKA A&R Representatives) step into the role after first being musicians, songwriters, music producers, and/or recording studio owners.

While not absolutely required, it is desirable to have at least some background and direct experience in music in order to understand the artistic process and the business of music.

You’re probably already working in some facet of A&R if you find yourself actively:

  • Developing talent
  • Helping artists connect with their fan base
  • Getting artists signed to a label
  • Getting artists’ music published
  • Finding music placements for artists

As the music industry continues to change drastically and quickly, A&R Representatives come into the business from a variety of angles.

Most will pursue a college degree first, usually in music business or something similar. There are also internships available at music companies for aspiring A&Rs.

Besides record companies, publishers also employ A&R reps to find and sign talent for publishing deals.

Publishing A&Rs work to sign songwriters and then get their songs placed for licensing or recording. There can be more money in publishing and licensing than in live performance or streaming sales, so labels will often try to stake a claim to an artist’s publishing rights.

What Musicians Need to Know About A&R

It’s clear that with volatile changes in the music industry, the roles of A&R have been transformed.

As things continue to change, the role of A&R will also develop. At the same time, vestiges of the old methods remain, like the A&R gatekeepers at the major labels.

As a musician, you should think in terms of artist development, and where you need help the most. There are individuals out there looking for artists and bands to promote, sell, produce, and otherwise shape into a successful act.

Having a team that believes in your music as much as you do is important. And someone on your team should be focused primarily on achieving next steps for your climb to success and fame. You could find that person anywhere, but they are likely already working in the music industry, perhaps as an A&R Rep somewhere.

The tenure of an A&R at a record company tends to be short, especially if the acts they sign don’t blow up into major successes. Most A&R reps don’t last too long, and when they do jump ship (or are fired), with their specialized knowledge, they can find other roles that are related to music business.

  1. 1. " What Exactly Does an A&R Do? w/ Atlantic A&R Dallas Martin | The Bootleg Kev Podcast ". YouTube. published: March 8, 2021. retrieved on: Dec 11, 2024