Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label or music publishing company
that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording
artists and/or songwriters. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label
or publishing company; every activity involving artists to the point of album release is generally
considered under the purview of, and responsibility of, A&R.
Responsibilities Finding talent
The A&R division of a record label is responsible for finding new recording artists and bringing
them to the record company. They are expected to understand the current tastes of the market
and to be able to find artists that will be commercially successful. For this reason,
A&R people are often young and many are musicians, music journalists or record producers.
An A&R executive is authorized to offer a record contract, often in the form of a "deal
memo": a short informal document that establishes a business relationship between the recording
artist and the record company. The actual contract negotiations will typically be carried
out by rival entertainment lawyers hired by the musician's manager and the record company.
A&R executives rely mostly on the word of mouth of trusted associates, critics and business
contacts, rather than unsolicited demo tapes. They also tend to favor the bands that play
in the same city as the record label's offices. Overseeing the recording process
The A&R division of a record label oversees the recording process. This includes helping
the artist to find the right record producer, scheduling time in a recording studio and
advising the artist on all aspects of making a high-quality recording. They work with the
artist to choose the best songs to record. For artists who do not write their own music,
they will assist in finding songs and songwriters. A&R executives maintain contact with their
counterparts at music publishing companies to get new songs and material from songwriters
and producers. As the record nears completion, the A&R department
works closely with the artist to determine if the record is acceptable to the record
company. This may include suggesting that new songs need to be written or that some
album tracks need re-recording. A key issue is whether the album has a single: a particular
track which can be used to market the record on radio. As Tom Petty sang in "Into the Great
Wide Open", the industry cliché, "I don't hear a single!", refers to this process.
Assisting with marketing and promotion Once the record is completed, the A&R department
chooses a single to help promote the record. History and influence
The tastes of particular A&R executives have influenced the course of music history. A&R
man John H. Hammond discovered Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and Bruce Springsteen.
Hammond's colleagues were initially skeptical of these artists because none of them appeared
to be creating "commercial" music. However, Hammond's instincts proved to be correct and
these artists went on to sell hundreds of millions of records. Geffen Records' Gary
Gersh signed the band Nirvana at a time when alternative rock music was not considered
commercial. Gersh was able to convince his co-workers to push the record in spite of
their misgivings. In cases like these, A&R people have radically changed the direction
of popular musical tastes and introduced large numbers of people to new sounds.
However, this kind of prescience is the exception, rather than the rule. Historically, A&R executives
have tended to sign new artists that fit into recent trends and who resemble acts that are
currently successful. For example, Columbia Records' A&R man in the 1950s, Mitch Miller,
favored traditional pop singers like Guy Mitchell and Patti Page, and rejected early rock-'n'-rollers
Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. This trend following mindset has caused several
waves of narrowly defined genres leading to a perception of triteness, including teen
pop, alternative rock, hair metal and disco. Trend following can be counter-productive,
since it has often led to a backlash. Towards the end of each wave record companies have
found themselves faced with enormous losses as consumers' tastes changed. For example,
at the end of the disco boom in 1978, millions of records were returned by record retailers,
causing a deep recession in the music business that lasted until 1982, when Michael Jackson's
Thriller finally brought the public back into record stores in large numbers.
The general move towards more conservative and business-minded signings from the 1980s
onwards is seen to be symptomatic of an industry where the most powerful figures are no longer
music fans or people with musical backgrounds, but business people. Traditionally A&R executives
were composers, arrangers and producers – Atlantic Records's heads Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun
were producers and composers respectively – but an A&R with musical ability and knowledge
has become a rarity, with Ron Fair and Martin Kierszenbaum being notable recent exceptions.
The composer and arranger Richard Niles has said,
What you've got now is huge multinational companies where most of their A&R staff are
businessmen. They’re people who look at music from the standpoint of marketing, not
from the standpoint of music and talent. They will say, "Go out and get me anything that's
popular now."
Regional variations According to Rhythm King Records and Lizard
King Records founder Martin Heath, the A&R community in the UK is more integrated than
it is in the US, being very London-centric and encompassing a relatively small number
of people. "If scouts are chasing a band, you’ll see the same thirty people in one
room. You get a herd mentality in the UK, but also some very diverse signings as well,"
he said in an interview with HitQuarters. Heath believes that in the USA it is more
typical for A&R to wait until a band is established – having attracted other offers or achieved
a level of sales – before taking action, a technique which often works out as being
more expensive. Recent changes
New forms of digital distribution have changed the relationship between consumers and the
music they choose. Gerd Leonhard and others argue that the wide selection of music on
digital services has allowed music consumers to bypass the traditional role of A&R. In
the wake of declining record sales, a large number of A&R staffers have been terminated.
It is unclear whether A&R executives will shape the future of musical tastes as they
have in the past. Citations
References Albini, Steve, "The Problem with Music", The
Baffler and later various websites.) Goldberg, Danny, Bumping into Geniuses, ISBN 1-59240-483-9
Knopper, Steve, Appetite for self-destruction : the spectacular crash of the record industry
in the digital age, New York: Free Press, ISBN 1-4165-5215-4
Krasilovsky, M. William; Shemel, Sidney; Gross, John M.; Feinstein, Jonathan, This Business
of Music, Billboard Books, ISBN 0-8230-7729-2 Kusek, David; Leonhard, Gerd, The future of
music : manifesto for the digital music revolution, Boston: Berklee Press, ISBN 0-87639-059-9
Prial, Dunstan, The producer : John Hammond and the soul of American music, New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 0-374-11304-1 Shoemer, Karen, "Some Alternative Boundaries
Fall", New York Times Weissman, Dick, The music business : career
opportunities and self-defense, New York: Three Rivers Press, ISBN 0-609-81013-8
External links A&R Interviews – Database of interviews
with A&R people