The below criteria is what this label REQUIRES for an artist to even be CONSIDERED.
*THIS COMES STRAIGHT FROM THE A&R TRAINING MATERIAL *
Artist Musts:
In order to qualify as one of your monthly A&R submissions, an artist
MUST:
Have professionally produced demos or master recordings of
original music. No covers may be
submitted.
Have music available in a format that can be uploaded and
downloaded.
Be willing and available to be signed to a major label
recording contract.
1Have hit songs.
Reflect a youthful appearance and image.
Have star potential.
Have a website.
2If these sound like extremely stringent requirements, and if you feel
it will be very difficult to find artists that truly measure up, good. A&R Scouting is in some ways a giant sifting process and we are only
interested in the best of the best, that one in a thousand perhaps,
that has it all. This should give you a clear picture of exactly how competitive this business is, if you don't already know. Don't worry
though, with some effort and some luck you can succeed!
Now we will turn our attention to those qualities and accomplishments
that an artist should have, but may not, due to the type of music they perform or other factors. So, while lacking these things should
not prevent an artist from being considered, an artist that does have
them should be thought of as one that is truly on top of their game. These are artists who exhibit a high degree of professionalism, and
show how much they have already achieved on their own.
Artist Shoulds:
In order to qualify as one of your monthly A&R submissions, an artist
SHOULD:
Be currently selling an album or EP.
Have been performing publicly for one year or more.
Have created at least a small ?buzz.?
Have acquired a live fan base (with provable ticket sales).
1 ?Available? means the artist is currently unsigned or signed to an
independent record label that would allow them to
?upstream? to a major.
2 While we feel that any artist who does not have a website in 2005 is
behind the times, we realize there may be reasonable
explanations why they do not. This particular requirement is more for
the
functionality of our system.
3
Have local/regional airplay on college and/or commercial
radio.
Have local/regional press coverage.
Have strong ?word of mouth.?
Have an active tour schedule.
Have provable record sales (anything in the 3,000-5,000
range or above is good).
Have other compelling achievements.
Many of these ?shoulds? help us determine what the public perception of
the artist already is on a smaller scale. While there is no guarantee that local or regional success will translate on a national level
(many regional success stories have not), these initial successes do
provide some valuable insight to us when we are attempting to project the future potential of an artist. In sum, any hints at all that an artist
may work on a mainstream level must be considered.
*THIS COMES STRAIGHT FROM THE A&R TRAINING MATERIAL *
Artist Musts:
In order to qualify as one of your monthly A&R submissions, an artist
MUST:
Have professionally produced demos or master recordings of
original music. No covers may be
submitted.
Have music available in a format that can be uploaded and
downloaded.
Be willing and available to be signed to a major label
recording contract.
1Have hit songs.
Reflect a youthful appearance and image.
Have star potential.
Have a website.
2If these sound like extremely stringent requirements, and if you feel
it will be very difficult to find artists that truly measure up, good. A&R Scouting is in some ways a giant sifting process and we are only
interested in the best of the best, that one in a thousand perhaps,
that has it all. This should give you a clear picture of exactly how competitive this business is, if you don't already know. Don't worry
though, with some effort and some luck you can succeed!
Now we will turn our attention to those qualities and accomplishments
that an artist should have, but may not, due to the type of music they perform or other factors. So, while lacking these things should
not prevent an artist from being considered, an artist that does have
them should be thought of as one that is truly on top of their game. These are artists who exhibit a high degree of professionalism, and
show how much they have already achieved on their own.
Artist Shoulds:
In order to qualify as one of your monthly A&R submissions, an artist
SHOULD:
Be currently selling an album or EP.
Have been performing publicly for one year or more.
Have created at least a small ?buzz.?
Have acquired a live fan base (with provable ticket sales).
1 ?Available? means the artist is currently unsigned or signed to an
independent record label that would allow them to
?upstream? to a major.
2 While we feel that any artist who does not have a website in 2005 is
behind the times, we realize there may be reasonable
explanations why they do not. This particular requirement is more for
the
functionality of our system.
3
Have local/regional airplay on college and/or commercial
radio.
Have local/regional press coverage.
Have strong ?word of mouth.?
Have an active tour schedule.
Have provable record sales (anything in the 3,000-5,000
range or above is good).
Have other compelling achievements.
Many of these ?shoulds? help us determine what the public perception of
the artist already is on a smaller scale. While there is no guarantee that local or regional success will translate on a national level
(many regional success stories have not), these initial successes do
provide some valuable insight to us when we are attempting to project the future potential of an artist. In sum, any hints at all that an artist
may work on a mainstream level must be considered.
