What’s involved in the role of A&R for a Music Publisher?
‘We prioritise listening to demos which have been recommended to us e.g. by artist managers, A&Rs from other companies, writers already signed with us, music industry lawyers etc. This is important; getting other people on board shows that you have the get up and go to make your career a success - and that you’re not just waiting for success to fall into your lap.
'We’ll look to strike up a relationship with the writer (and manager if there is one) which sometimes is cemented by seeing a great live performance or another of our writers might say how good it is to work with the prospective writer. We’ll also want to ensure we can actually further the writer’s career; can we make the right connections for example, or provide funding at a crucial time? Once we agree a publishing deal, we’ll make sure the songs are registered with the collecting societies. At a creative level we’ll look at what the act/writer needs from co-writers, management, studio time, showcases, record label, synchronisation etc and we work as a team to try and facilitate what's needed to move their career forward.’
Give us your best piece of advice.
‘Attitude is perhaps as important as talent. You need to be able to put together a team of people to help launch your career - so you do need to be able to convince the right people to get involved. Part of this is tenacity - not giving up, not being daunted - and part is the charisma to win people over. And if no one is interested do it yourself!’