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 | 0 | | Brian's
monthly series of exerpts from his forthcoming book.
A
& R Part II
I
am amazed how many artists are walking around with preconceptions as to what motivates
A&R people and what they are thinking, yet when asked, these artists eventually
reveal that they have not worked at a record company, researched directly and
interactively the policies of a record company or even spent time in meaningful
unbiased discussion with an employee of a record company. This state of constructed
perception is what I call "Two Beer Philosophy" - some people have a discussion
over a couple of beers, introduce a number of pieces of "evidence" based mostly
on heresay and leave the discussion with the satisfaction that they have solved
all of the mysteries surrounding the topic. | Sounds
incredible when summarized like this, but how many people reading this can say
they have never been part of one of those discussions?
We are talking
about human behaviour - specifically, the unique human ability to extrapolate
and assume.
There are several glaring practical descriptors that are typically
never a part of the assumptive discussions | 
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Firstly,
the only true measurement of the success of an artist is by the number of times
a stranger will give them money to do what they do. It is no different with record
companies. If a record company does not bring in revenue from the sales of recordings,
I will show you a dying or ineffective record company. They do not have to market
artists you respect - they simply have to market artists who sell in sufficient
quantities.
Secondly, they do not care that you may disagree with their
choices - their job is to find people who do agree with their choices. If they
can do this effectively, they stay in business. They do not have to like all the
music you like and you do not have to like all of the music they agree to work
with. If they do not feel positive about forming a business relationship with
you, you can be assured of one thing only - they are not the right business partner
for you, regardless of your opinion of their level of intelligence. Why would
you want to work with someone who does not believe in you? Conversely, why would
they make a decision to work with you because you were more persuasive than attractive?
The major motivations behind any of the decisions a record company makes
are always the same - they look for artists they feel they can sell, that fit
their areas of expertise, and that represent the least expectation of risk exposure
that could damage the company.
Don't make ignorant emotional assumptions
to the contrary that can damage your own efforts and cloud your thinking with
information that is essentially useless to you.
Brian
Allen has a wealth of experience in the industry as a songwriter, guitar player,
producer, as well as enjoying 15 years heading up the A&R department at Attic
Records. He knows what it takes to be a winner in this industry, in mind, spirit
and in talent. He has over 10 million in career sales notched on his belt and
will be offering up his insight once a month, as a feature contributor to Songbridge,
with excerpts from his forthcoming book.
For more info on AMPLUS
Productions, contact Brian at brianallen@rogers.com
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