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A&R Contacts
January 16, 2008
You know, I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, "If
only I had the contacts to the big names, I'd be a star!" Are you one
of these people? Well, I'm going to grant you your wish. Every month,
I'll provide you with the names, numbers and emails to the people
holding the keys to your dreams. I'm going to provide you with the
important contacts, not the low-end A&R personnel or the contact
information to some ******* parking cars in front of the Sony
building. Along with a quality contact list, I'm also going to give
you a little advice about how to approach these people. Trust me, you
do what I say and you'll go places. So lets get started.
Here's how to properly submit your demo:
1) You need a great set of pictures of the group or artist whose music
you're submitting. Look as good as you can for the pics. Get into
shape, use make-up, do whatever you can to look your absolute best. No
grungy, ****ty pics you took with your sweaty, oily-face crew in some
basement "studio" somewhere. I'm talking about professional pictures
taken by a paid professional.
2) Select your best 3 songs. I know a lot of you think every song you
do is a "hit". To those of you who do think that,do me a favor and
pull your head out of your ass. Invite people who don't know you, who
have no relation to you, and most importantly...who don't give a ****
about you, to listen to your music and make an honest judgment of
which songs they like (Note: Pick people who listen to the genre of
music you make). Don't argue with their critique, or try to sell them
your point of view. Your music should speak for itself.
3) Make sure your songs are mixed properly. Get them professionally
done if at all possible. It makes all the difference in the world to
have music come out the speakers properly. No A&R or executive cares
to give you the benefit of the doubt just because you couldn't afford
to get it mixed. Find the money. Find the people. Make it sound as
good as the songs mixed on your favorite CD's.
4) A&R's and other executives listen to less than 20 seconds of the
first song before making a judgment call on the music. That means if
you don't captivate them within that given time, they aren't going to
bother listening to the other songs you've submitted. So be very, very
selective regarding what you put first. Get rid of long intros and
useless sections of songs.
5) Don't spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars packaging your
CD's or press kits. Nobody who's anybody gives a rat's ass about that.
Instead, do the following:
a. Set up a proper myspace. Set up a myspace which has your best
pictures (see #1 above), your best songs (see#2 & 4) and a well
written bio, which will hopefully have a captivating story to it. And
finally, make it such that your myspace doesn't take forever to load
because of all the flashy garbage you have strewn across your page.
This isn't kindergarten, it's serious business.
b. Make quality MP3's of your songs, at a bit rate of around 192kbps.
Make sure your songs don't exceed 4 mins because in all honesty,
nobody is going to spend 4 minutes listening to your song anyway. Make
Jpeg's out of all your images. Set up an email, which is less than
10mb in size, and include at least two MP3's, your pics and a bio.
Then, set it aside for mass mailing purposes.
c. Most every A&R accepts demos emailed to them. Don't waste time
getting the permission to mail them a hard copy. It's pointless.
6) Finally, let me give you some advice on how to contact the A&R's:
a. As the first option, email the A&R, and say something like this:
Hello, my name is __________, and I am an artist. I'm ___ years old, I
have a ton of experience _________, and I just wanted to send you a
few songs, or have you check out my myspace. Is that cool?
b. If they don't get back to you within a few days, try again, and
again, and again. Be persistent, but not irritating.
c. If a week or two passes, and you don't get a response, call the
number I provided. Ask their assistant for permission to send the
demo. This is called "soliciting". No label worth its weight in gold
will accept unsolicited demos.
Hit some of these people up:
1) Ron Fair, CEO, A&M Records, ron.fair@umusic.com,
2) Erica Grayson, A&R, A&M Records, Erica.grayson@umusic.com ,
3) Alicia Graham, A&R, Aftermath, Alicia.graham@umusic.com,
4) Chris Morris, A&R, Atlantic, chris.morris@atlanticrecords.com ,
5) Harve Pierre, A&R, Bad Boy Entertainment,
hpierre@badboyworldwide.com ,
I can't forget you homies out in the UK. Here's a few people you can hit up.
1) Steve Sasse, Head of A&R, Atlantic Records, UK
steve.sasse@atlanticrecords.co.uk , 44-207-938-5507
2) Mike Pickering, Senior VP of A&R, Columbia Records, UK
mike.pickering@sonybmg.com , 44-207-384-7726
3) Noel Labrosse, Manager of A&R, Direction (Sony), UK
noel.labrosse@sonybmg.com , 44-207-384-7732
4) Kevin Doran, A&R Scout, EMI, UK kevin.doran@emimusic.com , 44-207-605-5249
Good luck, and get started. Check back soon for more contacts and
advice. – M. Isaac
Save and Share this Article
January 16, 2008
You know, I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, "If
only I had the contacts to the big names, I'd be a star!" Are you one
of these people? Well, I'm going to grant you your wish. Every month,
I'll provide you with the names, numbers and emails to the people
holding the keys to your dreams. I'm going to provide you with the
important contacts, not the low-end A&R personnel or the contact
information to some ******* parking cars in front of the Sony
building. Along with a quality contact list, I'm also going to give
you a little advice about how to approach these people. Trust me, you
do what I say and you'll go places. So lets get started.
Here's how to properly submit your demo:
1) You need a great set of pictures of the group or artist whose music
you're submitting. Look as good as you can for the pics. Get into
shape, use make-up, do whatever you can to look your absolute best. No
grungy, ****ty pics you took with your sweaty, oily-face crew in some
basement "studio" somewhere. I'm talking about professional pictures
taken by a paid professional.
2) Select your best 3 songs. I know a lot of you think every song you
do is a "hit". To those of you who do think that,do me a favor and
pull your head out of your ass. Invite people who don't know you, who
have no relation to you, and most importantly...who don't give a ****
about you, to listen to your music and make an honest judgment of
which songs they like (Note: Pick people who listen to the genre of
music you make). Don't argue with their critique, or try to sell them
your point of view. Your music should speak for itself.
3) Make sure your songs are mixed properly. Get them professionally
done if at all possible. It makes all the difference in the world to
have music come out the speakers properly. No A&R or executive cares
to give you the benefit of the doubt just because you couldn't afford
to get it mixed. Find the money. Find the people. Make it sound as
good as the songs mixed on your favorite CD's.
4) A&R's and other executives listen to less than 20 seconds of the
first song before making a judgment call on the music. That means if
you don't captivate them within that given time, they aren't going to
bother listening to the other songs you've submitted. So be very, very
selective regarding what you put first. Get rid of long intros and
useless sections of songs.
5) Don't spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars packaging your
CD's or press kits. Nobody who's anybody gives a rat's ass about that.
Instead, do the following:
a. Set up a proper myspace. Set up a myspace which has your best
pictures (see #1 above), your best songs (see#2 & 4) and a well
written bio, which will hopefully have a captivating story to it. And
finally, make it such that your myspace doesn't take forever to load
because of all the flashy garbage you have strewn across your page.
This isn't kindergarten, it's serious business.
b. Make quality MP3's of your songs, at a bit rate of around 192kbps.
Make sure your songs don't exceed 4 mins because in all honesty,
nobody is going to spend 4 minutes listening to your song anyway. Make
Jpeg's out of all your images. Set up an email, which is less than
10mb in size, and include at least two MP3's, your pics and a bio.
Then, set it aside for mass mailing purposes.
c. Most every A&R accepts demos emailed to them. Don't waste time
getting the permission to mail them a hard copy. It's pointless.
6) Finally, let me give you some advice on how to contact the A&R's:
a. As the first option, email the A&R, and say something like this:
Hello, my name is __________, and I am an artist. I'm ___ years old, I
have a ton of experience _________, and I just wanted to send you a
few songs, or have you check out my myspace. Is that cool?
b. If they don't get back to you within a few days, try again, and
again, and again. Be persistent, but not irritating.
c. If a week or two passes, and you don't get a response, call the
number I provided. Ask their assistant for permission to send the
demo. This is called "soliciting". No label worth its weight in gold
will accept unsolicited demos.
Hit some of these people up:
1) Ron Fair, CEO, A&M Records, ron.fair@umusic.com,
2) Erica Grayson, A&R, A&M Records, Erica.grayson@umusic.com ,
3) Alicia Graham, A&R, Aftermath, Alicia.graham@umusic.com,
4) Chris Morris, A&R, Atlantic, chris.morris@atlanticrecords.com ,
5) Harve Pierre, A&R, Bad Boy Entertainment,
hpierre@badboyworldwide.com ,
I can't forget you homies out in the UK. Here's a few people you can hit up.
1) Steve Sasse, Head of A&R, Atlantic Records, UK
steve.sasse@atlanticrecords.co.uk , 44-207-938-5507
2) Mike Pickering, Senior VP of A&R, Columbia Records, UK
mike.pickering@sonybmg.com , 44-207-384-7726
3) Noel Labrosse, Manager of A&R, Direction (Sony), UK
noel.labrosse@sonybmg.com , 44-207-384-7732
4) Kevin Doran, A&R Scout, EMI, UK kevin.doran@emimusic.com , 44-207-605-5249
Good luck, and get started. Check back soon for more contacts and
advice. – M. Isaac
Save and Share this Article
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