What is A&R???

A&R? What is A&R? What do people in A&R do? These are the questions that racked my brain when someone told me a few years ago in college that from my passion for music, this might be a good job for me one day. First, I learned what A&R stands for, which is Artist and Repertoire. Next, I looked into what they do, an article on About.com defines and A&R's job as "the musicians' point of contact at the label during contract negotiations and they facilitate things like setting up the advance, booking recording sessions where required and anything else that needs to be done to act ready for release." The job also includes choosing the right marketing, promotion, and song selection for an artist's project. Being someone that loves the promotional aspect of building the brand and getting the word about an artist, this job began to peak my interest. Next, I had to learn the pros and the cons of the job and how it wasn't as easy as it sounds. Once, I figured all this out, I made a commitment to myself that I will make it one day as an A&R in the music industry because unlike most people I don't always need to be in the spotlight, I get more gratification from hearing how successful something I planned, created, or helped put together was. So, as I began to take more of an interest in being an A&R and I was introduced to twitter and the opportunity to talk with celebrities and major people in the entertainment industry, I became even more motivated to go for my dreams because I came upon people like Serge who has worked with my idol Jermaine Dupri as an A&R and Conrad Dimanche who has worked with another idol of mine, Diddy. Along, with a very informative and influential website, I came upon one day called PMP Worldwide that allowed me to read biographies of various producers and A&R's in the Music Business, I knew that my dreams are possible as long as I stay confident, motivated, and focused on achieving them.

In the words of my #1 Idol, Russell Simmons "If you aren't passionate about a vision, it's hard to have faith in it."-from "Do You!"