"People usually think: How can I get a record deal? The proper question is: How can I make a career for myself as a musician?" - Andy Karp

Introduction

Andy Karp is Vice President of A&R’s said - "People usually think: How can I get a record deal? The proper question is: How can I make a career for myself as a musician?" Sure - It all starts by “getting noticed”. Getting noticed is usually a by-product of doing all the right things by making a career for yourself as a musician. Many artists have learned that when you do all the right things, eventually someone will come and investigate what all the hype is about. Andy Karp also said - “Don’t worry about finding us, well let you know when your on our radar screen.” Many A&R Representatives are extremely proactive in looking for new talent. A&R’s are very good at finding the what, where, when, why, and how of talent recruitment. What are some of the specific things A&R’s look for? Good question. Some of those things include a good musical production, possessing talent and marketability, possessing a unique signature sound that stands out from the rest, a solid live presentation, but more importantly something that will drive the consumer to the “point of sale”. This is why “Buzz Factor” is so important. No matter what you may think the bottom line in the record industry is and always will be about money. True - it usually takes a band up to 2 years of doing all these right things before they “get noticed”. Yes it’s all about getting noticed, it could all be about getting your music licensed into films one day, but more importantly success starts by having clout and developing good relationships with the right people behind a slid product. Just getting in the door is where it all begins. The purpose of this essay is to put into action those steps that will not only greatly increase the possibility of your project getting noticed by the right people, but more importantly its about helping you develop relationships with some of those people. So many people are trying to get record deals, songs onto soundtracks, but in this overly saturated market it’s more important just to get a foot in the door to create a potential relationship. Those people are primarily Music A&R’s, and Movie Music Supervisors. By the way I might add Andy Karp is one of our A&R consultants listed in our A&R Registry.