Every industry has a genie in a lamp - meaning a person makes your wish come true. As almost every artist wants to get signed and become the next big thing, the genie in the music industry is the artists and repertoire(A&R) representative. However, different from how Aladin randomly found the lamp, you have to build up your popularity and fanbase before even thinking about finding the genie.It is certain that A&R representatives only work with you if they see value in you. Thus, if you think you’re not ready yet, you can start building your fanbase and popularity by checking out our article on music promotion.If you are ready, let’s jump into four things to know before finding your genie!Prepare your materialsBefore actively looking for an A&R representative, you need to be ready to hand in the required materials at any time. Thus, you should have a checklist of all the materials you need to present - including an electronic press kit, a pitch, and a song demo. You don’t want your A&R representative to wait for you to hand in the right materials. If you haven’t had your electronic press kit done, check out our guide to make your first EPK.Moreover, a tip for preparing your materials is to make everything coherent to each other. The main reason you present the materials is to showcase your identity and values as a musician. By making all the materials resonate with each other, you will establish coherency in the way you present yourself. Hence, this will help you look more professional toward the A&R representative - making working with you more desirable.Choose your label A&RLooking for a label A&R is similar to looking for a relationship - you want to find the one the most compatible with your vision and identity. Hence, before jumping into reaching out to an A&R representative, you should conduct proper research on what labels are out there and which one best suits you and your music. Learn more about record labels through our article on how to get signed by labels.The idea here is to find what record label resonates with your music and vision the best. For example, if your music is more indie and experimental, chasing major label A&R wouldn’t be the best choice as major labels tend to look for talents that fit more to the mass music preference which would monetary benefits them more.The clash of interest and value between you and the labels is the utmost thing you want to avoid during your music career. As a result, to step in the right direction, you need to start by looking for labels A&R that match your identity and values.Personalize your approachYour first approach matters! You don’t want to sound too “salesy” when you first approach an A&R representative. When you choose to approach the A&R representative by yourself, you have to see things under the A&R representatives.They must have received hundreds of unsolicited submissions that scream “choose me, sign me” every week. As a result, you don’t want to become one of these hundred applications.The way for an A&R representative to accept unsolicited submissions is to send personalized messages. You want to showcase that you understand their label and vision as well as how you fit perfectly there as an artist. In the message, you also want to emphasize your musical identity as this will be your unique selling point as an artist - making you stand out from the crowd. If you’re still unsure about your brand’s identity, you can learn more through our article on building an identity.Utilize your networkingA good approach usually comes in the form of a recommendation. Thus, we highly recommend you to check out our article on networking in the music industry. With a solid circle of music professionals, the chance of an A&R representative reaching out to you is higher.Since their job is to scout talents, you want to create hype toward your brand as a musician. Hence, there’s no greater way than having someone do the introduction for you.Another way to create hype around your name is to continuously promote your music. At Base for Music, we help you run ads for your music by generating sponsored campaigns across social networks such as Facebook, TikTok, Youtube, and Spotify. Through our services, your music will get popularized to different groups of listeners and steadily build hype around your music.
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