A&R with Ears

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Are there any decent A and R people out there with ear? Is is all about image and marketing? I know it's a business but hey come on they can't all be crap?!?

― Elijah Karriem, Wednesday, 28 December 2005 13:31 (twenty years ago)

In fairness to A&R people, if you're working for a huge label, your job is to look for artists who have the potential to sell a lot of records and make money for your company. It seems to me that a bigger problem is when A&R people go after artists who are very unlikely to sell enough to recoup major label costs, and fuck over musicians who would have been much better selling small but achieving modest success (or at least not massive financial failure...) on independent labels.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 13:44 (twenty years ago)

Smaller indie labels have a better track record of listening to more "challenging" music versus what may sell tons..That said,there is a lot of horrible music out there.

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

It's also worth noting that in most cases, there's a beaurocracy involved in who gets contracts - an A&R person can like a lot of good stuff, but ultimately someone above them is going to have to okay their selections.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

Matthew OTM. A&R people are company employees, not magi with discretionary budgets. Sell 5-7K CDs on an indie label (or yourself) and you will find most major labels' A&R men suddenly polite and approachable.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 14:46 (twenty years ago)

and yes it is all about image and marketing with th exception of Elliot Smith who looked runned over but had great tunes

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

the nature of a&r has completely changed in the past 10 years, as the indie labels are being seen more and more as, essentially, minor leagues from which the majors can pluck talent. and it totally makes sense for the majors: there is already an established fanbase and the band is (sometimes) a proven commodity. maybe the best signing of the past few years was wea's snagging of my chemical romance. at the time they were a largely unknown quantity, but thanks to being onetime labelmates with thursday (on eyeball records, a new jersey vanity label) they had a small amount of profile. it ended up that the timing was perfect (note that island's thursday signing has largely been a bust, at least in terms of what they were most likely hoping for), as mcr's album came out just in time to hit the crest of mainstream emo. that's not something that wea -- or anyone -- could have predicted. it's an educated crapshoot at best, no matter what clive wants to say.

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 14:55 (twenty years ago)

...and mcr dood looks like a pretty christina ricci.......

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 15:01 (twenty years ago)

exzachery!

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 15:04 (twenty years ago)

the main problem with A&R since, oh, the early nineties at least (probably earlier) is the one Matthew mentions in his second post: everything winds up being by-committee. An A&R guy with the actual power to sign (rather than just present a deal memo) could make decisions of consequence; if 10+ people have to all agree on a new artist, the artist on whom they agree is likely to be a bit dull.

There's also the matter about which people are always (rightly, but dully) whining: no more artist development; you get two albums max to make a huge splash instead of the five or six years Reprise (or Sire) used to allow for an artist to find his audience.

― Mr Straight Toxic (ghostface), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 15:07 (twenty years ago)

My aunt asked me if MCR was ok for my 12 year old cousin....

― GET EQUIPPED WITH BUBBLE LEAD (ex machina), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 15:12 (twenty years ago)

david katznelson(reprise)-the muffs,flaming lips,boredoms,tarnation,mudhoney
god bless him

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 15:17 (twenty years ago)

a&r ? i'll have to get back to you on that.

boom tish.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)

you get two albums max to make a huge splash

But this model actually makes sense in the current situation, where indie labels are treated as minor leagues; more often than not, the major-label debut will be the artist's third or fourth album. In every way that matters, the Decemberists' Capitol debut will be people's first exposure to a weird band plucked out of nowhere (they're only "stars" in our sad little world).

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 15:24 (twenty years ago)

Interview with the A & R guy who signed Wolf Parade

― save the robot (save the robot), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, artist development is sorta ridiculous for major labels now - they are pretty wise to leave that to indies for a lot of acts, and snatch them up when they have an audience and crossover potential. Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie definitely benefited from this method, and I'm sure the Decemberists will do okay for themselves when their next record comes out. If that last Decemberists record was on a major, I'm sure they could have made a modest AAA/MTV2/soundtrack hit out of "The Engine Driver."

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 21:04 (twenty years ago)

is the death cab signing seen as a success, though? i read that 'plans' had only sold about 360k.

― maura (maura), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 21:30 (twenty years ago)

That's mostly because they haven't released the obvious hit yet. That should be in a month or two. It's called "Crooked Teeth."

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 21:32 (twenty years ago)

i guess we'll see...

― maura (maura), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 21:32 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, we'll see. I think that if that song doesn't go over well, they never will have a proper crossover hit.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 21:55 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.