Music Sound

Artist and repertoire (A&R for short) is a music industry term that refers to the division of a record label that is responsible for scouting and developing talent. The A&R department is the link between the recording artist/act and the record label, and is often required to handle contractual negotiations, find songwriters and record producers for the act, and schedule recording sessions.

One of the A&R department's main jobs is sorting through the plethora of demo tapes sent by hopeful musicians to the label. A&R departments typically only accept solicited demos, or ones from business contacts that they are familiar with.

In some more artistic record labels, creativity is encouraged and songwriting and record producing is done by the artists.

Examples of A&R people include

Dr Dre
Simon Cowell
Brad Delson
Ian Dickson
Mark Holden
Mitch Miller
Chuck Paugh
Frankie Vega
Ben Watt

Some A&R people have literally changed the face of modern music, John H. Hammond for example, had a long and rich career discovering some of the biggest names in music. Artists he discovered, signed and even occasionally produced included Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and many others. Other A&R people with similar track records include Clive Davis and Lenny Waronker.

External links

• The Gatekeepers: A&R
• Description of A&R on About.com