Knowing Your Artist

Since the last couple of classes that I've been engaged in at Full Sail University, I've been given a wealth of knowledge on the importance of knowing your artist.  I have been looking into my business plan and evaluating or reevaluating what my strategies are to make sure that I'm representing an artist correctly.  The first thing I had to look at was if me and my artist were a good fit for each other. This is very important for me to have an understanding of the artist's vision.  Then the question is if I am capable of helping the artist fulfill the vision.  Sometimes a manager may not be able to travel and that's ok, but it needs to be understood so there can be a road manager in the works of the contract. Finally, I would want to make sure that as we move forward that we make sure we agree on the contract that we put together.  This requires research of my artist type of music and population they're trying to reach. This is important to the success or failure of any artist/manager relationship.

Life of an A & R Rep

The A & R Rep also known as the Artist and Repertoire representative is the core of any label.  Before there is  any success for a record label it is imperative that there is a song and artist that is unique enough to garner enough attention to gain millions of records in sales. It's about the song and the artist. If you look at music past and present and really analyze the presence that our huge artist have had, they had to be unique, and there's a song that just makes you remember where you were at that particular moment.

Attached is a video documentary segment I found on You Tube about the A & R rep for Def Jam Records. She is a young lady by the name of Tina Davis.  She has been successful in spawning the careers DMX, Method Man, LL Cool J, and Redman. In this video you get a glimpse of her life as a record executive.  She is seen in a few meetings with hopefuls as she listens to track after track, instrumental only or some with vocals. She gives positive yet constructive feedback. She says, its just a gut feeling that she has to have that she just knows what artist needs to be apart of the label, and what songs need to be on the album. "Her advice is to stay focused, and don't do anything that does not pertain to your goal." She believes that the A & R department is the most important part of a label that you can't do without.

If I didn't learn anything else that she discussed was the importance of asking one of the hopeful managers, "What makes him special?"  As a potential artist manager, I know now that its very important not to waste anyone's time telling them they've got 'it' and they don't. What I mean by having it, means that your set apart or incomparable with what you're bringing to the industry. "Build your own story", Davis says.

Check the video out if you'd like.  Tina Davis A & R Rep for Def Jam