Artist and repertoire (A&R for short) is a music industry term that refers to the division of a record label that is responsible for scouting and developing talent. The A&R department is the link between the recording artist/act and the record label, and is often required to handle contractual negotiations, find songwriters and record producers for the act, and schedule recording sessions. The music industry is the industry that creates, performs, promotes, and preserves music. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in producing, manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and sometimes video recordings (especially music videos), on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ...

One of the A&R department's main jobs is sorting through the plethora of demo tapes sent by hopeful musicians to the label. A&R departments typically only accept solicited demos, or ones from business contacts that they are familiar with. Track Listing Submerged -3:09 Subway -1:57 Waiting For Susan -3:03 One Times One Times One -4:25 To Be Free Please -4:02 Handsome Musician -3:32 Fair Weather -3:06 North Main Street -3:31 AIDS -3:26 Your House -2:34 ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ...

In some more artistic record labels, creativity is encouraged and songwriting and record producing is done by the artists.

Examples of A&R people include

• Dr Dre
• Simon Cowell
• Brad Delson
• Ian Dickson
• Mark Holden
• Mitch Miller
• Chuck Paugh
• Frankie Vega
• Ben Watt

Some A&R people have literally changed the face of modern music, John H. Hammond for example, had a long and rich career discovering some of the biggest names in music. Artists he discovered, signed and even occasionally produced included Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and many others. Other A&R people with similar track records include Clive Davis and Lenny Waronker. Andre Young (born February 18, 1965 in Los Angeles, California), better known as Dr. Dre, became a pioneer in todays hip-hop culture and gangsta rap. ... Simon Philip Cowell (born October 7, 1959) is an English artist and repertoire executive for BMG, but is probably best known as a judge on the television programs Pop Idol, American Idol, and The X Factor, where he is notorious for his uncompromisingly harsh and occasionally controversial criticism of the... Brad Delson. ... Ian Dicko Dickson (born 28 March 1963 as Ian Ross Perrygrove in Birmingham, England) is a music industry and television personality in Australia. ... Mark Holden is an Australian singer and television personality, who is one of three judges on Australian Idol and The X Factor. ... Mitch Miller (born July 4, 1911) is remembered as one of the best-selling recording artists of the 1950s and early 60s. ... Charles Michael Paugh (born July 25, 1967 in Valparaiso, Indiana) is an American record company owner who founded Party Til Dawn Productions in 1985. ... Frankie Vega embraced the breakdance craze of the mid-1980s not for its slick, commercialized style, but for the music behind the motions. ... John Henry Hammond (December 15, 1910 – July 10, 1987) was a record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s. ... Billie Holiday For the Canadian broadcaster, see Billie Holiday (broadcaster). ... Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24 May 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and poet whose enduring contributions to American song are comparable, in fame and influence, to those of Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, and Hank Williams. ... Bruce Springsteen on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. ... Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an iconic American gospel, soul and R&B singer born in Memphis, Tennessee, but raised in Detroit, Michigan. ... Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1934) is the founder of Arista Records, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a nonperformer. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

External links

• The Gatekeepers: A&R