Where have the A&R's gone?

 As a songwriter, there was a time when you may be able to score a meeting at a label in order to play music for A&R’s working with artists. It seems that time has passed. As an upcoming songwriter, the idea of actually having someone at a label listen to your music is just a fantasy. In the age of email, you meet people, who tell you, send me some stuff. But I guarantee there is like a spam filter that all your stuff gets sent to. Lol. As much as people ask you to send them stuff, it seems that I never hear anything back. So you might say, “Well maybe your stuff just isn’t that good.” And yes that is what I thought for a certain period of time. But I must say my friends eventually you get to a point where you know your music is undeniable. To help with that I started sending music to known friends in the industry asking them just that! “Hey, tell me is this music up to par with industry standards or not?” And after listening they all gave me the thumbs up. One notable manager saying “Yeah someone’s just not doing their job.” So now that I can feel confident enough to say, hey I have good music here, I am wondering “What happened to the A&R’s? It seems that when it comes to making albums, they just look at the billboard charts and grab the writers and producers from the top ten … which is FINE … I mean it’s somewhat of a sure bet, I guess, but what happened to discovering new talent? New writers and producers with new ideas? So what is the solution? I have pretty much given up on the idea of trying to “Shop” songs. Just feels like a waste of time in my book. But I have some upcoming artists that I am writing with that I am really excited about. I’m no longer fixated on getting a placement with this HUGE artist. I am more interested in trying to break artists of my own with great songs that will be undeniable. We have a great team! And all of us are focused on making the best music possible and making a space for ourselves. Forget waiting for some suit to tell us that what we have is worthy. Another solution to getting songs heard is co-writing. I am fortunate enough to know some really dope producers and songwriters in the game. So your chances of getting a song placed with one of them is way more likely. They have the ear of the industry. They are the ones who can still get meetings with artists and labels and whatnot. So having the opportunity to work with them, there is a good chance that one of the records you work on together may end up in a meeting. I would think that in a business where everyone is looking for the sure thing, that it might be neat to find the next best thing. But what do I know?