Where do I start in the music industry of being an A&R Rep?

Music City, Nashville is the place to start. Look it up online and send them an email and ask them the same questions you have asked here.

Sorry to say but if you don’t know, you won’t go. You either have to know musicians and do it from the ground up, or go to school for it. My friend went to school as a producer before interning at Sony records and became an A&R that way. You have to be busy involved with interning. You have to be busy involved hanging around musicians. If you want to be serious with it, get a degree first so people know that you know what you are talking about. Try majoring in commercial music. Buy this book “Confessions of a Record Producer.”

@john65pennington Yeah, if i send them an email I’m probably going to fall in the same boat as everyone else. But, I guess it’s worth a try. Thanks… @whitetigress Commercial music sounds cool. What about music marketing would that help? Any other things you recommend?

Shades, you are correct, it is so difficult to get your foot in the door in the music business. You have to have something super special to get their attention. Think about this and what you can come up with to just knock their socks off.

This is what it takes and a person that does not give up. You will make it.

Yep, basically what @whitetigress said. The bottom line is that the music industry is big business just like any other. You basically have two options. You can try to do your own startup company or you can get a job in an established one and work your way into the position you want.

With the startup option the cards are stacked very heavly against you. The big guys pretty much have the industry sewn up and like to keep it that way. It’s basically the equivilent of wanting to start your own operating system company. Sure, it’s possible, but your compitition are people like Microsoft, Google, Sun, etc… At best you can carve out a nice little niche market that will make you a living and if you are extreamly lucky in a decade or so your little niche might become a small part of the “main stream”.

Going the route of signing on with an established player also takes time and effort, but has a much clearer path to “success”. But understand that in this case success probably does not mean most of your time is spent cruising around the world in the corporate jet partying with your favorite rock star. It means you have a steady well paying gig that will cover your morgage, give you a nice benifits package that includes health insurance, and enough income to comfortably provide for your family. As with any corporate gig, you don’t just walk into the front door, shake hands with the CEO and expected to be appointed Sr. VP of everything cool. Just like applying for any other corporate job, you go to school first and get a degree in a related field, then you sign on for one one of those underpaid and overworked intern jobs where you have the opportunity to prove your worth before being hired as a “real” employee. From there you play the corporate “do da” game until you weasle your way get promoted into the job you really want.

Q. Why do corporate record executaves wear neck ties?

A. To keep thier forskins from flying up in their faces.

@YoBob Thank you so much, I am going to read a few industry books, first I have to get the know the industry very well! LOL @ the joke at the end

Just remember, represent what you believe in. You’ll only carry an artist as far as you can dream <3