The Future of an A&R

WHAT IS AN A&R??
STANDS FOR ATTITUDE AND REJECTION
~In the music industry, A&R stands for artist and repertoire
~finding, signing, and developing new talent as well as helping guide their careers. ~involves going to showcases, checking out bands at clubs, hearing about new talent from a network of associates and other artists in the industry, and even searching the Internet for talented artists.
~A&R reps do not accept unsolicited demos because they believe that if an artist has talent they will create a buzz, which will eventually get to the A&R rep. "I don't want you to come to me, I want you to make me come to you."
~work with record producers and introduce the artist to the other people that will help them at the record company.
~find songs for their artists to record or help decide what songs should go on the album

How has it Changed??
~ Traditionally A&R would match up recording artists with songwriters, picking songs that would suit the artists and picking artists that would score hits for a songwriter.
~Over the years their role has changed, their main job is acting as the point of contact between the artist, and their management, and the rest of the label infrastructure.

What's Next?

In my experience in attending The University of the Arts, I had the opportunity to take part in a internship at Philadelphia International Records; the home of legendary song producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. It was such an honor for me to even be in the same space where artist such as The Jacksons, Teddy Pendergrass, and Phyllis Hyman recorded music. When sharing the news to my parents and grandparents, they were so excited for me and were happy that I got to share in the history of great music. I was also familiar and appreciative of the musical background and the importance of that record label in the history and revolution of music. Philly International Records was The Sound of Philadelphia. They have produced more songs then you can even imagine and that you hear everyday in television and films. For example, on Donald Trumps show “The Apprentice,” the opening theme music is the recording of “For the Love of Money” by The O’Jays; artist of Philly International. Now that I have enlightened you on some of the labels works, you would think more people would know about this; WRONG! When I shared the same news with my friends of my new job position, I could see the look on their faces like they didn’t know what I was talking about. They had no clue as to who Gamble & Huff were. But that is ONLY one example of how today’s generation doesn’t know the meaning behind “good R&B music.”

Who Run the WORLD??

GIRLS!!!!!!!!
Beyonce is back yet again!!!!! But did she come back with a bang?? Some people don't like Beyonce's new anthem "Who Run the World." I am a huge fan of hers, but I'm not sure if i agree with every artist making a move to new styles of music. Now don't me wrong, if this song were to play at a party, everyone would be dancing no doubt about it!

Beyonce is taking a new step, dub-step that is! Something that Brittney Spears did as well in her new single "Hold It Against Me." I have taken well to this new style of music. But tell me, where would our creativity go if we didn't challenge ourselves to something new every so often.

Beyonce's newly anticipated album will probably be a summer party jam and just what we need to start the summer off right! I CAN'T WAIT!

F.A.M.E

THE RETURN OF: CHRIS BROWN

In September 2010, Chris Brown had begun work on his fourth album. On September 18, Brown announced that the album would be titled, F.A.M.E. The acronym of the title has two meanings, "Forgiving All My Enemies" and "Fans Are My Everything".




Chris has always lived his life in the media from his very first steps into the music industry. We, the public, have seen him grow into the very man he is today, through ALL of his ups and his very low downs. Even though many cannot forgive Chris Brown for his incident with singer Rhianna, its still hasn't put a hold on his musical up comings with his new album release.


There reason i chose to speak about Chris Brown is because of his evolution of music. Chris came out as an young R&B singer. Many people compared him as the young Usher or Michael Jackson. But now, Chris has taken a drastic change to his career by focusing more towards the pop culture of the industry. Many artist are taking this route during these times, but is it because that's where the money is? Not for Chris! I think Chris is a true artist and understands and embraces his true talent through all emotions and for all generations.

On Brown's F.A.M.E album, there are songs from all genres: from street records to others that are real soul, 808 heavy that you'll hear in the club, and then others are strictly for the heart; songs that your mom and grandma can listen to and love. Collectively, F.A.M.E. is me giving fans every aspect of who I am as far as my art, my culture, and my concepts."

Who is Nikki?

WHO IS NIKKI?? Coming in as "The Barbie" of the rap game, she has taken the industry by full force! With her MANY personalities and spit fire lyrics she shows that females are made to play the same game. Nicki Minaj is a female rapper from Southside Jamaica, Queens, NewYork. She grew up in a troubled home, with a father on drugs and a struggling single mother. Despite her hectic environment, Minaj went on to graduate from LaGuardia High School in Manhattan where she studied singing and acting.

Nicki Minaj started off singing, from background vocals, to hooks for local rappers. Minaj wanted to “stand out” more, from the average dime-a-dozen young aspiring singer and began writing raps. Starting out as the lone female in a group. Nicki soon branched out and was noticed on Myspace by Dirty Money CEO Fendi. Who signed her and put her on the front of his Dirty Money Label.

Nikki was soon noticed by rapper Lil’ Wayne who immediately called Fendi to negotiate meeting Nicki. He was convinced by not only her different style of rapping, but her ability to full on write her own material that she was perfect to be the face of his Young Money label. The two collaborated on mixtape styled remakes of tracks.

 Nearly a year later, Minaj released her second mixed cd titled Sucka Free. Controversy surrounded this as Nicki paid tribute to rapper Lil’ Kim by posing with her legs spread for promotional posters. She describes it as something to “pull people in”, so that they would listen to what she had to say.

Aside from her original moniker, Minaj also uses an array of Aka aliases to describe herself, such as; “Nicki Lewenski”. I dont think this is the first or last we will be hearing from Nikki!!!!

Eminem..... #winning!

In 2010, Grammy-winning rapper Eminem and his former production company have been ruled in favor to receive more financial payments from past song and ringtone downloads. I felt that this situation is relevent to bring back up in 2011 because many artist are still having the same issue in collecting royalties in the music buisness. Being in this industry is very exspensive in the first place, and every bosy is VERY money hungry and thats what its all about. If in these modern times of technology, the only way to sell your music is through digital downloads. As of now the physical CD no longer has a major impact on music sales, but digital downloads are taking over. More so through priroting.

A federal jury last year had ruled against F.B.T. Productions LLC in its lawsuit against Universal Music Group seeking a greater share of revenue from downloads made between 2003 and 2008. But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found Friday that F.B.T.'s contract entitled Eminem and his producers to a 50-50 split with Universal for recordings licensed to digital distributors such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

"We will be filing a petition for a rehearing," the company said. "In the meantime, it should be noted that this ruling sets no legal precedent as it only concerns the language of one specific recording agreement. Any assertion to the contrary is simply not true." (Wall Street Journal)

A jury was seated Friday, with a star-studded witness list, starting with Jimmy Iovine, a founder of UMG. Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computers, Inc., is scheduled to testify, by video. "This is very significant case," said Jay Cooper, an entertainment lawyer with vast experience in the music industry. "A lot of people are going to be watching very closely because there's a lot of money involved." (The Wrap)

Goodbye R&B, Hello Pop....

“How y’all gone stand by and let our music turn into pop, techno, cornball ass music?” proclaimed Erykah Badu via Twitter last October, regarding the obvious transition major acts have been making recently from traditional R&B to electro pop. “We don’t own our music no more. Come to think of it, did we EVER own it? Where is the funk? They played six in a row today, pop techno songs [on the radio] back to back. With so-called R&B and rap artists on the hip-hop station!”

With their initial sound birthed in mainstream R&B, artists like Usher, Chris Brown, Kelly Rowland, and Rihanna are now just as known for singing over pulsating electro/house beats to create monster international hits. Joining them out the gate is Wynter Gordon (pictured above), a 25-year-old vocalist whose debut single “Dirty Talk” is a global phenomenon.

 

For Wynter Gordon moving from R&B to electro pop was a natural progression after her label sent her to Europe to work with some producers. Gordon does believe, however, that many traditional R&B/pop acts are moving into the electro space for one reason only. “Because it’s selling right now, of course,” she says. “Everyone has decided to jump in the pool. Everyone has a song about a party or a DJ right now!”

Last year R&B singer Mario, whose had big hits with slow jams like “Let Me Love You” and “Crying Out For Me,” told Singersroom.com that after a trip to Europe his next album would be filled with electronic and house music. “It was incredible to see how many people are into house music and R&B music [there] and how house music influences R&B nowadays.”Another example is Ushers “OMG.” Produced and written by will.i.am. The artists aren’t the only ones enjoying crossover success, either. The pay-off goes both ways, with regional dance producers as well.

Gordon says she started experimenting with electro pop “when I was finding myself about two years ago. My music hasn’t gone mainstream yet, but I’ve gotten a really great response underground. It’s the same all over the world.” One place she won’t find a great response is with Badu. The soul star continues to bemoan today’s hottest artists who’ve forsaken their R&B roots.