A&R's are they really your savior?

Im workin on my demo soon and im lookin to front my stuff to some A&R's around atlanta I really dont wanna be a bedroom producer so can they really help get your foot in the door on some projects or are they a waste of time?

depends on the a&r.

thats like asking are snakes friendly?

you have to remember this about A&R's:

They need you just as much as you need them.

They are there to make money off of you, just like your there to make money off the project they get you on.

have a lawyer check the contract over and put it into plain english for you.

Rob

thefirehooligan wrote:you have to remember this about A&R's:

They need you just as much as you need them.

They are there to make money off of you, just like your there to make money off the project they get you on.

have a lawyer check the contract over and put it into plain english for you.

Rob

good advice

most a & r's are idiots. and they don't last long. VERY high turnover rate in the A & R departments.

actually, i don't think an a&r guy needs you as much as you need him. he's the guy that will get your beats to artists. but think about it, he doesn't really need you as much as you need him because there are a whole LOT of producers and wanna be's out there for him to pick from, but not that many A&Rs for you to get your material to. So the A & R guy is a lot more valuable to you than you are to him.

A lot of them don't take unsolicited material. And if they do take it, its going to end up in a stack of other beat CDs and may or may not ever get listened to.

And of course ALWAYS check the paperwork with a good entertainment lawyer.

If your trying to shop a demo, be persistent. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, know what i mean? F*ck it, send those cats a CD EVERY DAY, at least it will get them to notice you, lol.

So to answer your question, yes an A&R guy can be your savior, but i wouldn't expect too much.

instead of looking for an a&r get them looking for you. promote your work in creative ways. get your chit heard on any and all platforms no matter how humble. work with anyone in your area that is locally established and attend all conferences, meet & greets. these meet & greets are the best places to not only build with artists but also meet radio program directors, a&rs and so forth. your community is your greatest resource. also join a producer's association. an innovative approach is to to form alliances with producers or even a production squad so you can be more than one place at once and you will attract supporters in less time, not to mention it diversifies your sound. also organize a street team if possible. be present and involved wherever your work is performed or displayed. enter beat battles. all this attracts an a&r's attention.

a&rs are not the only route though. the role of the a&r is also in flux right now, they are not as reliable as they used to be, b.u.t. it depends how involved you want to be in the promotion and marketing of your own work directly to artists. that's legwork. or you could start a production company and bred your own roster of artists, release album mixtapes and get light that way.

whatever you do, be entreprenuerial about it. once you start to make money everything falls into place.

when r powers combine we r super bedroom producers