How does A&R work in the internet era? · May 17, 10:58 AM

Demo money, demo problems?

“It’s very, very different to 10 years ago. I can’t imagine A&Ring without iTunes, Sendspace and Soundcloud.” – Alex, Greco Roman Records

The deal-breaking, talent-scouting Artists & Repertoire executive is one of the archetypes of the music industry, but is this role still relevant in the era of online music? Intuitively, one would expect new talent to be more easily discovered online than on the gig circuit these days – but has this affected the way that labels discover or sign acts?

Despite the negative stereotype of “a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody “baby“” (as described by Steve Albini) which persists in the public imagination, A&R hasn’t always been a dirty word. On the contrary, early talent scouts such as John H Hammond garnered respect by appreciating musical talents which had yet to develop commercial appeal. Hammond championed black musicians at a time when the industry was divided by segregation, and helped artists like Billie Holiday and Count Basie to achieve fame. In subsequent decades he signed iconic acts like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, often despite misgivings from his employers at Columbia Records, and was still discovering new music fifty years after his career began.

Regardless of whether they’re made by full time talent scouts or are simply a part of day-to-day management, A&R decisions are a huge part of what make record labels distinct from one another. The labels involved in our survey were asked about five A&R-related issues which seemed likely to have been influenced by the rise of digital media, and the answers below have been organised into the same sections:

General policy – do labels still need A&R?

The plethora of genres and sub-genres in the contemporary music scene has led labels to specialise more, and they frequently launch with a full stable of artists:

“If I hear something great I will sign it, but I’m not actively on the hunt. We are very lucky that we are a producer-based label, and we already have enough amazing producers in our tight local crew to fill a year’s schedule.” – Claude, Dirtybird

This doesn’t necessarily mean that finding new acts takes a low priority: in fact most labels said that actively hunting for new acts was very important to them. Even those who told us that locating new talent wasn’t a pressing concern added that they were always open to signing new acts with strong appeal:

“We only release a few records a year and there are other sides to our business, so we don’t look too actively for new acts.. but if something comes along that really grabs our attention, we put it out.” – Alex, Greco Roman

Geography – does it still matter where an act comes from?

A few of the labels questioned believed it was still important to maintain a clear regional identity, and said that a label in your own country can sometimes do more for you, but most agreed that the internet had made geography less of an issue, and told us they wouldn’t hesitate to sign an act from the other side of the world if their sound was right:

“If the music and artist is incredible you can’t let international lines dictate your decisions.” – Justin, DFA

Passive talent scouting – are demos obsolete?

Opinions on demo submissions were more varied. Some labels were highly receptive and had signed artists on the basis of unsolicited demos, but most mentioned that the majority of submissions they received were unsuitable due to problems with the demo’s format or musical style. The presentation of a demo can greatly affect how it’s received:

“We are open to receiving demos, and we’ve become very good at recognising what demos would be good, even based on the content of the email. You get the knack of understanding whether or not someone is suited to the label based on how they send a demo. Sounds bizarre, but it’s very true!” – Jamie, Hypercolour

The overwhelming numbers of demos received can be offputting… Dirtybird told us that working through their backlog is very time-consuming but nevertheless worthwhile:

“I listen to every single demo. It can take up to two months to get to all of them but I do it. I have signed multiple records from demos. It’s getting harder to do it since the music got harder to sell over the last three years. These days you almost need a named artist just to get people to check out a track, but I believe strongly in developing and signing brand new artists even if we don’t sell many copies. I want to be moving forward always and never get stuck in the name game.” – Claude, Dirtybird

Active talent scouting – is it better to seek online or check out live shows?

Opinions were split on the best ways to look proactively for new music. LCD Soundsystem’s label takes time to keep track of the online ‘kids coming up from behind’:

“Jonathan Galkin (co-owner & head of A&R here at DFA) spends a great deal of time on this. He seems to have everything before anybody. He is, as Murphy sang in “Losing My Edge”, the ‘Internet Seeker’.” – Justin, DFA

However, Justin also mentions that:

“Something about staring at a wave form sucks out the mystery or mystique of an unknown artist. I recommend an assault on all the senses to get labels intrigued. Also just send the music! A&R people like to hear their music on a office or home stereo or in the car. Laptops don’t do music justice.”

Others agreed that checking out music at gigs and parties can be preferable to web-surfing:

“Live shows are important to us as we like to tour with our artists, so we always check out shows before signing. Soundcloud is a great tool but there is way too much crap on there to trawl through to discover new talent. We all work in music as musicians, promoters, managers, DJs and consultants so we come across music in lots of different ways, but good old-fashioned hanging out at parties seems to be the way we hear about most things.” – Alex, Greco Roman

However, the advocates of online talent scouting said that it’s vital for them to discover new artists before the competition, and that waiting for acts to begin playing shows would leave them one step behind in the race:

“To be quick you have to get the artist at an early stage. For us, this is usually a long time before they are likely to tour: it’s all about being a step ahead of the competition in sourcing out new acts / artists.” – Jamie, Hypercolour

These various methods are clearly valid for labels with different artist policies. Some labels said they’d like to spend more time looking for new acts at live shows, but that it wasn’t possible for logistical reasons; so it’s a practical consideration as well as a matter of strategy.

Signing acts – is it a personal choice or a business decision?

All the labels agreed emphatically on this point – A&R decisions are never made by focus groups or on the basis of cold commercial logic, but always depend on the personal musical tastes of the label owners, as this selection of replies make clear:

“Three of us run the label and all three of us have to like it”

“The entire label is about personal taste, from the music down to the art direction.”

“ALL our signings are based on personal taste”

“In the case of DFA Records yes 100%”

“Yes absolutely. I sign what I like”

Record labels use very different methods for finding new acts, but it seems significant that they agree so unanimously on the overall goal: discovering music which fits an individual vision. The importance of this uncompromising personal aesthetic cuts to the heart of what makes a record label great and brings the A&R story full circle: full-time scouts like John Hammond may largely have been replaced by the multi-tasking managers of today’s specialist labels, but in all cases the vital factor is that decisions are based on personal taste.

FATdrop would like to thank all the labels who took time to help with this survey, and especially those who allowed us to quote them. Please keep on digging through the demos, seeking on the internet, following tip-offs at parties and doing whatever else you do to find great new music…

— Stephen Hedley

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