Artists and Repertoire (A+R) in the Music Industry Essay

Artists and Repertoire (A+R) in the Music Industry - Essay Example2006). The A&R is the section of a record label that under asks talent scouting and manages the operativeic development of recording operatives. In essence, it acts as the link between the artists and the record label. Therefore, the A&R department plays a major role in discovering new recording artists and recruiting them to the company, through understanding of the current market preferences and tastes, and selecting the artists who will be commercially successful. For A+R staff to carryout the task of recruiting commercially viable new artists, they should first understand the specific ways in which unisonal production is shaped by a particular genre of cultures and the broader historical and social context within which the production takes place (Negus, 1999, P.13). Generally, in the music industry, the A&R staffs are seen as mediators or intermediaries. According to Negus, Music industry personnel act as media tors, continually connecting artists and audiences the music business staff works as intermediaries, not only during the around obvious marketing and during promotion activities, but also when introducing the idea of an imagined audience into the writing, producing and recording of songs in the studio, stressing that they are engaged in presentation and representation providing symbolical goods and services (Negus, 1999, P.18). More so, apart from singing bands to record labels, the A&R staff is mostly obsessed with music and is in touch with particular music scenes, is very influential, and is widely viewed as important ingredient to a successful record label (Carter, Clegg, Kornberger, & Schweitzer, 2011, P.389). The A&R staffs are the key for the established bodily label in creating music scenes (informal assemblages) which become imbedded in the music industry mostly for promotional purposes (Bennett & Peterson, 2004, P.4). The roles of A&R staff vary depending on the designat ion, ranging from artist manager, music lawyer, music accountant, booking agent, music merchandiser, promoter, venue booker and other titles depending on the label. Mostly, the A&R staffs are recruited based on their skills rather than on formal qualifications, with experience and backgrounds such as artist management, production, and DJing being an added advantage (Hannan, 2003, P.158). Another major duty of A&R staff is to help the artist locate the suitable producer, prepare recording schedule in the recording studio and offer advice to the artist on the best ways to improve the fiber of their recording. They are therefore involved in helping an artist choose the best songs to record, and are very vital in finding songs and songwriters. Additionally, most of A&R staffs are expected to be talented in arts and music in order to accomplish varied roles involved in this field. For example, take the famous artist, composer, producer, and music reviewer, Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno, wh o began exploiting his career early in life through composing music, performance reviews, reviews of published music, and was an advocate of the avant-garde music (Adorno, Leppert, & Gillespie, 2002, P.14). Lastly, the A&R will involve liaising with other department such marketing in assisting the artist to market the released record. To sum the work of A&R staff the apprehension of the artists work must be spread from the record company to radio programmer, and