The End of the A&R Era?

Possibly. A&R back in the day were considered creative people who had some sense of power over pop culture. They knew the dos and don’ts of commercial success, and they were responsible for scouting talent for their record label. They would go spend their evenings in nightclubs to listen and discover new artists or bands, and help them develop.  Nowadays, however, the talent needs to have some sort of momentum before A&R even consider getting involved. Once an artist achieves this momentum, they go straight to the contract without the need of an A&R.

The topic of A&R (acronym for “artists and repertoire”) grabbed my attention after reading BusinessInsider article that reports on Guy Hands, the man whose funds took over EMI, disappointment with the amount money that is invested to the A&R division of the record label, with little return revenue. He wants to take away power from the A&R people, and give it to executives who actually work with selling music.

Interested in a rebuttal, my search led me to an article in TheTelegraph and featured “’Fifth Beatle’ Sir George Martin”. Dubbed the “fifth Beatle” because of his huge influence, he was saddened and disappointed with the news of Guy Hands. He views it as a monopoly of the music industry executives, and he fears that if other big companies like Sony and Universal go along with these measure, they will miss out on the next Elvis Presley or Oasis.

It is easy to see where both sides are coming from. In one article A&R are considered a waste of money, and in the other they are considered these people with an extraordinary ability to determine the “It” factor of an artist. However, I find myself siding with Guy Hand simply because of the Internet. A while ago, A&R filled the gap between artists and executives, but today, social media does that. The Internet has replaced the job of the A&R.  Pop artists like Justin Bieber, and T-Pain depended more on their YouTube accounts rather than an A&R to connect with the music executives they needed in order to get signed to an exclusive contract.  The Internet has become the sound of the people and tells the executives what Is popular, rather than relying on the opinion of an A&R.

Despite the dimming of the A&R division in major labels, A&R still have a vital role in independent labels. A&R for independent labels tend to invest in the artistic development of an artist. Labels like these make one believe that it is still possible to make it with just your talent. RichardRussell says, “To me, signing is instinctive. The more I think, the worse it gets. I'm not signing people for who they are, but for their potential. I have to believe in the person." Richard Russell is responsible for signing Adele.

Without the pressure of big recording label’s executives, the quality of music found in indie artists are much higher than those who are commercially successful.  Today, anybody can record music with any program like pro-tools on their computer, and post it online; if a “buzz” is created, than major music companies signs them.

So will the 21^st century be held responsible for the end of the A&R era in the music industry? Today, major music labels don’t sale records; they sale “hit singles”. Executives are interested in quantity of pop singles they can get in the charts rather than quality music. With the Internet, you can look what consumers are interested in buying, what Is pop culture, and what the latest “buzz” is. Yet, there are still independent labels that focus on the talent artistry and craft. They are willing to invest their time and money on the people they believe in, even if these artist never become mainstream.