A&R is short for Artist & Repertoire. The term originally was used to describe the role of people at record labels who's job primary role was finding and developing new talent.



This included getting the right material for the artist to perform if they don't write their own songs, selecting and making the deals for the artist to work with the right producers, songwriters, engineers, studio, etc., deciding which of their songs are the strongest, and overseeing the making of the record.

After the record is completed, the A&R person often is also responsible for getting the other departments such as sales and radio promotion excited about the record so that they do their jobs well.

Today, A&R people seem to concentrate less on developing artists, and often look for artists that have "developed" themselves. A&R people are under pressure to find immediate hits, rather than finding potential hits and developing them.

How do I get my music to an A&R ?

The best way to get your music to an A&R person is to cause them to come to you. Make them notice you. One of the best ways, with the new online strategies availiable is to show them you have lots of fans going to you Myspace page.

They can see this with your Myspace music player and the amount of plays you have. The higher count the more they see you are popular.

Find a good resource is that offers you the same exact strategies to boost you myspace music plays and increase plays just like the major stars of today to get you noticed fast. In fact they probably have worked with many top artists, labels and managers.

And dont forget a large Myspace play count will get booking agents and managers as well to notice you which will allow you to build a fan base through constant touring and relentless self-promotion. With marketing, and selling your own CDs, you have a good chance to show up on the radar. It is much more powerful when they call you rather than you calling them!

Can you get through just cold calling? It would be very tough and unlikely. They get to many artist's and managers pitching their music and if they stopped for every call they would not have the time to do any other work.

Send an unsolicited demo? It will most likely come back to you. A&R people are busy, and generally listen only to the material that comes to them from a trusted source such as a manager, publisher, or music attorney.

What makes an A&R person want to sign you?

Hit songs and "star" quality. You can increase your odds of getting noticed by doing your own artist development and proving that the public has a strong interest in you.

Let them see that your Myspace music player plays are high. It shows them you have fans that are listening and returning to listen again. It shows them you are popular and stand out from the crowd!

Now you can use the EXACT same strategies the Major labels are using for your promotional campaigns. The playing feel has never been more level for the independent music artist and band as it is now.

Use these strategies to get myspace plays and get more plays on your Myspace music player. If you increase myspace plays, and use other tools like a myspace friend adder you will increase your chances to get noticed now!