Artists and repertoire (A&R) 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 (i.e.repertoire)
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 (with assistance
from marketing,
promotion and the
artist) 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 (1998–2001),
alternative rock (1993–1996),
hair metal (1986–1991) and
disco
(1976–1978). 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.[7]
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.[8]
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.'"[8]
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.[9]
"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.[9]
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.[9]
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 (1993),
"The Problem with Music",
The Baffler (Chicago:
Thomas Frank) (5)
(Reprinted in
Maximum RocknRoll No. 133 (June 1994) and later various
websites.)
- Goldberg, Danny
(2009), Bumping into Geniuses,
ISBN 1-59240-483-9
- Knopper, Steve
(2009), 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 (10th ed.), Billboard Books,
ISBN 0823077292
- Kusek,
David; Leonhard, Gerd (2005), The future of music : manifesto for
the digital music revolution, Boston: Berklee Press,
ISBN 0-87639-059-9
- Prial, Dunstan
(2006), The producer : John Hammond and the soul of American
music, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
ISBN 0-374-11304-1
- Shoemer, Karen
(30 October 1992),
"Some Alternative Boundaries Fall", New York Times
- Weissman, Dick
(2003), The music business : career opportunities and
self-defense, New York: Three Rivers Press,
ISBN 0-609-81013-8
External links