In the vast world of music, filled with artists, producers, and labels, one key figure often remains in the background yet plays a vital role in shaping the sounds we love: the A&R man. Short for Artist and Repertoire, A&R professionals are responsible for scouting talent, signing artists to record labels, and guiding their artistic development. But who was the first A&R man in the world? Let’s take a journey through music history to uncover the origins of this crucial role.
Before diving into the first A&R figure, it’s important to understand the context of the music industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this time, the invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison in 1877 and the subsequent development of gramophone records revolutionized how music was consumed. For the first time, people could listen to recorded music in their homes, and a new industry began to emerge around the sale of these recordings.
As the industry grew, record labels like Columbia Records and Victor Talking Machine Company became the early giants. These companies needed someone who could both identify fresh talent and ensure that the recordings would appeal to the public. Thus, the concept of A&R was born.
Though the title “A&R man” wasn’t officially coined until later, Fred Gaisberg is widely considered to be the first person to fulfill this role. Born in 1873 in Washington, D.C., Gaisberg had a passion for music from a young age. He was a skilled pianist and became one of the earliest recording engineers in the world.
Gaisberg’s career began in the 1890s when he started working for the Gramophone Company in London, which would later evolve into EMI Records. At the time, recording technology was still in its infancy, and the process was far from what we know today. Early recordings were made using mechanical techniques, and the sound quality was limited. Despite these challenges, Gaisberg was instrumental in shaping the future of recorded music.
What made Gaisberg unique was his dual role as both a recording engineer and a talent scout. He didn’t just sit behind the recording equipment; he actively sought out artists who could create music that would resonate with the public. In this way, Gaisberg became the world’s first A&R man, combining his technical expertise with an ear for talent.
One of Fred Gaisberg’s most notable contributions to the music world was his discovery of Enrico Caruso, the Italian opera singer who would go on to become one of the most famous recording artists of the early 20th century. In 1902, Gaisberg traveled to Milan, Italy, to persuade Caruso to record for the Gramophone Company. Though Caruso was initially hesitant, Gaisberg convinced him to make a recording, and it was an instant success.
Caruso’s recordings became best-sellers, and he is now remembered as one of the first global music stars. This moment not only solidified Gaisberg’s reputation as a visionary but also marked the beginning of the modern record industry, where A&R professionals played a crucial role in connecting artists with audiences.
Fred Gaisberg’s career spanned several decades, and his impact on the music industry cannot be overstated. He traveled the world, recording a diverse range of artists from different genres and cultures, laying the foundation for the globalization of music.
While Gaisberg’s title wasn’t formally “A&R man” at the time, he embodied the role by scouting talent, overseeing recordings, and helping to shape the artistic direction of the artists he worked with. His pioneering efforts paved the way for the formalization of A&R departments within record labels.
In the years that followed, the role of A&R evolved, especially with the rise of rock and roll, pop music, and later hip-hop. Figures like **John Hammond** (who discovered artists like Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan) and Ahmet Ertegun (co-founder of Atlantic Records) continued Gaisberg’s legacy by shaping the musical landscape of their eras.
Fred Gaisberg was more than just an early recording engineer; he was a visionary who understood the importance of artist development long before the term “A&R” became commonplace. His work laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most essential roles in the music industry.
Today, A&R professionals continue to scout new talent, shape artistic visions, and connect musicians with audiences, all while standing on the shoulders of pioneers like Gaisberg. From the discovery of Enrico Caruso to the global spread of recorded music, Gaisberg’s contributions remain a cornerstone of the music industry, and his legacy as the first A&R man lives on in every hit song we hear today.
Nigeria’s music industry is growing rapidly, with a diverse range of music genres and talents. This has created a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors looking to get involved in the business side of music in Nigeria. Here are some of the music business opportunities available in Nigeria:
In conclusion, Nigeria’s music industry is full of opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors looking to get involved in the business side of music. Whether you’re interested in music production, artist management, record label management, music publishing, music promotion, music equipment sales and rental, or music education, there are many ways to get involved in the music business in Nigeria.
If you want to be successful in your music career, you need to know how to create an effective marketing plan. A marketing plan is a tool that can help you organize all of your promotional activities, set goals, and measure your progress as time goes on. It also helps keep you focused so that you don’t get overwhelmed by everything that needs doing.
Before you can create a marketing plan, you need to know who your audience is and what they like. This will help you determine how best to reach them and keep them engaged with your music. It’s also important that you understand their age group, gender, location, and more so that when it comes time for the actual execution of this plan (step 4), everything runs smoothly.
Most importantly though: don’t forget about their emotional state! The music industry is always changing so having empathy for where people are emotional helps us stay relevant as creators in today’s world of constant change.
The second step to creating an effective music marketing plan is to plan for the long term.
This may seem obvious, but it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t be thinking solely about what you need to do this month or even this year. You should also consider your goals for next year, and maybe even further down the line–as far as five years from now!
For example: If you have a new album coming out in 2020 and want it to be successful enough that people still talk about it in 2025 (and beyond), then planning how best to market that album now will be crucial when those dates roll around.
In order to know whether or not your marketing efforts are working, it’s important to keep track of where you’re at. You should know how much money has been spent on each campaign and what kind of results have come from those campaigns. This will help determine if a given strategy is working or not so that future strategies can be tweaked accordingly based on what has already been tried.
Keep track of the following:
The next step is to set a goal for your music marketing plan. A goal is something you want to achieve, so it’s important that you have one in mind before beginning the process of creating your plan. For example:
Step 5: Create a list of marketing tactics to use.
You should have everything you need the order to create your own music marketing plan by this point, but if not, here’s what you should do next:
A music marketing plan is an essential part of creating a successful career in music, particularly if you are just starting out and don’t have much money to spend on ads and promotions.
It’s important to note that there is no one right way to create a plan; every artist has their own unique situation and will need to approach their marketing differently. That said, here are five steps that can help guide your strategy:
A music marketing plan is an essential part of creating a successful career in music, particularly if you are just starting out and don’t have much money to spend on ads and promotions. It may seem like a lot of work, but the payoff will be worth it in the long run!
Planning content in advance is important for musicians because it gives them the time to write and record their next album. In this article, you will get 5 tips on how to plan content in advance.
The music industry is an ever-changing landscape. With new artists coming onto the scene and established artists releasing new albums every year, it’s important for musicians to stay on top of their marketing and social media efforts. But this can be challenging when you’re busy with rehearsals, recording sessions, and live performances. In order to keep up with your fans’ expectations and stand out from the pack you’ll need to find time in your busy schedule to plan out your content ahead of time. Here are some tips on how to do just that:
Brainstorming is a great way to develop ideas before you actually create the content. This can mean everything from sketching out a plan for your new album cover on paper or creating a list of topics that you want to cover in a podcast episode. Set aside some time each week (or every day) to brainstorm new ideas and concepts that could be included in your upcoming pieces.
The first thing you need to do is compile your ideas in a document or spreadsheet. This will help you stay organized and keep track of what content you want to create and when.
In another section, we mentioned the importance of using a calendar for planning out your time, but when it comes to creating blog posts and social media content, it’s even more helpful! You can use the calendar feature on your smartphone or computer as well as third-party apps like Google Calendar or Todoist (my personal favorite).
Once you have created this document with all of your ideas listed out by topic and date, go through each one individually and decide how much time each one will take from start to finish—including writing the post itself, editing it once finished (which should be done first), proofreading it one last time before publishing on social media platforms like Facebook/Instagram/Twitter, etc., posting on those sites with hashtags if necessary so people can find them easily in search engines such as Google or Bing, etc., monitoring how many likes/comments/shares there are on each post after it goes live so that any changes needed can be made swiftly without waiting too long between updates.
Setting up social media and blog calendars is an essential step for musicians to plan content in advance and increase the consistency of their output. This can be done through a spreadsheet, or with apps like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Sprout Social. A calendar helps you to track your progress, as well as easily see when there are gaps in the schedule that need filling with new posts or tweets.
Scheduling posts in advance is an easy way to stay on top of your social media game. It also helps you avoid being late, which could make people think less of your brand—or even worse, leave a negative impression.
If you don’t have the time or patience to craft engaging content on a daily basis (which is understandable), scheduling can help fill in gaps and reduce stress. In fact, scheduling tools like Hootsuite are designed specifically with musicians in mind you can schedule tweets or Facebook posts from anywhere at any time!
Planning content in advance is key if you want to stay on top of your marketing and social media efforts. If you’re planning content in advance, you will know what to post and when and thus be able to focus on other aspects of your business.
If you’re a musician looking to plan your content in advance, these tips will help. They give you a good idea of how to brainstorm ideas, compile them into documents and spreadsheets, create a marketing calendar, schedule social media posts in advance, and more! As always when it comes to making music, remember that the only way to succeed is by practicing hard work (and maybe some luck).
If you’re a musician and you want search engine traffic, it can be tough to figure out where to start. There are so many moving parts that it’s easy for even the most competent people to get overwhelmed. That’s why I’ve put together this exhaustive checklist of every step you need to take to make sure that your site is optimized for search engines like Google and Bing. This way, whether you’re an experienced SEO specialist or just getting started with e-commerce, there will be no question as to how well your site ranks on search engines:
The title tag is the most important on-page SEO factor. It should be visible on your website’s homepage, and Google will use it to determine what your site is about
The title tag should be between 60 -70 characters long, but I recommend keeping it to 70 characters if possible, as this can help with rankings in search engines. In this space, you want to include one or two of your most important keyword phrases (e.g., “music lessons for adults” or “piano lessons for kids”). You also want to make sure that these keywords are descriptive and informative; remember that people visiting your site have questions that need to be answered!
Metadata is important because it helps search engines understand what your content is about, and they use that information to determine where it should be ranked. If you don’t provide metadata, then search engines will use whatever text is on the page itself instead. This means that if you’re not careful about what words are visible on your site, then those words could become important in determining where you rank for certain searches.
Meta descriptions are one of the most powerful tools in an SEO’s arsenal. They’re short summaries that appear below some listings in search results; Google even uses them to help inform its Knowledge Graph (where it displays facts about topics people search for). The good news here is that musicians can write their meta descriptions! This can be a great opportunity to include keywords relevant to your music or band just make sure not to go overboard with keyword stuffing; Google doesn’t like when websites overuse specific terms just because they think it’ll help them rank higher.
There are two main types of metadata: HTML and XML/RDFa (Extensible Resource Description Framework). Both allow us to provide information about our resources so they’re easier for anyone trying to find them through different channels; however, there are subtle differences between these standards which we’ll discuss later on in this article…
Image ALT text is the text that appears when you hover over an image. It’s used for accessibility and SEO, as it helps search engines understand what your images are about.
The first thing to remember is that an image’s ALT text should be descriptive and include keywords. For example, if you have a photo of yourself playing the guitar on stage at a show, your image ALT text might say something like “Tom Jones performing at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, California” or “Tom Jones performing on stage at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, California while wearing his signature glasses.”
Additionally, the maximum length of any given piece of content including alt tags should be 160 characters (including spaces).
Copy is the text on the page that is visible to the user. You should always write your copy to be read by humans, not search engines.
This means that you should avoid repetition and long blocks of text where possible – if a reader can’t get through it all in one go, they won’t bother reading it at all. Remember: people don’t spend hours at a time searching for content; they usually have something specific they need help with, so keep it short and sweet!
It’s also important that your copy is unique and original don’t just copy from elsewhere on the internet! Search engines penalize sites for duplicate content, so make sure yours stands out from other sites by keeping things fresh (and avoiding plagiarism at all costs). Keep in mind that Google will only index about half of what’s published online as part of its algorithm; if you want both search engines AND visitors themselves coming back again and again then go ahead and write something brilliant every single time – even if no one else does!
When it comes to your online presence, Google My Business is an incredibly useful tool. You can use photos, videos, and more on your business page. You can also claim your listing on Google Maps (this will help people find you).
If you haven’t already, create a Google My Business page for yourself or your band. Then add links to that page from all of the different places on the web where people might look for you online: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc…
Social media is a great way to build your brand, reach fans and potential fans, and share your music. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms have all kinds of features that can help you strengthen your relationship with listeners and fans.
Reviews and ratings are important for SEO, and you should be getting as many as possible.
But how do you get reviews?
You can ask for them on your website, or use a service like Yelp to collect reviews there. You can also offer free products in exchange for an honest review (be sure the product is useful for musicians!). If someone writes a good review about your music online, don’t forget to thank them!
How do I get more reviews? How do I get more ratings? How do I get more stars? How do I get more than five stars?
Link building is one of the most important parts of your SEO strategy, and it should be a major part of your overall marketing plan. Here’s what you need to know about link building for musicians:
It’s important to understand that SEO is a complicated subject with many moving parts. You should use this checklist to stay organized and make sure you’re working on the right things in the right order.
It’s also worth noting that most of the tasks on this checklist should not be performed by musicians themselves, but rather by an experienced web developer or agency with whom they can partner.
SEO is a complicated subject with many moving parts. Use this checklist to stay organized.
The music business is complicated and everyone who works in it must earn money. While there are many ways to get paid, the most common method is through royalties. This article will explain how royalties work and how they can impact your earnings as an artist or manager.
Royalties are the money paid to songwriters and artists for the use of their work. They’re paid by record labels, radio stations, and live venues, who typically pay a percentage of their gross revenue on each song.
Your earnings as a musician can come from a number of sources. The most obvious is record sales, but there are many other ways to make money as an artist.
Labels also earn money through sales of physical products, such as CDs and vinyl records. In addition to the royalties they receive from artists (more on that below), labels receive royalties from each sale of an artist’s physical release.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), in 2017 consumers bought 1.22 billion albums in the United States alone. Based on the average price point per album (which is around $10 these days), that amounts to more than $12 billion worth of music sold by record companies and artists alike—money that goes straight into their pockets! Labels also make money by selling digital downloads and streaming subscriptions for individual songs or albums, licensing out music for commercials or movies, merchandising clothing lines affiliated with artists’ names…the list goes on!
The publishing company’s earnings are based on the number of streams, downloads, and physical copies sold. For example, if you write a song that someone else records and sells 100,000 albums, then your publishing company will be entitled to 10% of those sales (10% being standard for top-line writers).
These numbers can add up quickly. But what about other ways artists get paid?
Your manager is a professional who works with you to improve your career. They are paid from the money you make, so they only get paid if you’re making money.
They negotiate contracts and help book gigs, and keep an eye on what’s going on in the business. In some cases, they help with songwriting (in exchange for a cut of course!).
A good manager knows how to get things done and can help you get out there and succeed as an artist!
Lawyers are an essential part of the music business. They help negotiate contracts, make sure everyone gets paid, and mediate disputes between artists and managers, labels, and publishers.
There are two main types of lawyers in the music industry: corporate lawyers (who work for record labels or publishing companies), and litigation attorneys (who represent artists). Litigation attorneys range from general practice to specialists like entertainment lawyers or intellectual property lawyers.
Corporate law firms can earn anywhere from $150 per hour to over $1000 per hour for their services; it depends on their level of specialization as well as their experience with major clients such as record labels and publishers. Litigation attorneys usually charge a flat fee based on the amount of time they think your case will take them for example, if you have a simple dispute with your manager over money owed from touring revenue then you might pay only a few hundred dollars in legal fees while any case involving copyright infringement could cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands!
The music business is complicated and everyone who works in it must earn money. The first part of this statement is obvious, but it’s also worth repeating: the music business is complicated. It involves a lot of people and there are lots of ways to make money as a musician or producer. This truth leads us to the second point: everyone must earn money.
The music business is a dream for many. After all, it’s an industry full of talented people who love what they do. But getting into the music business can be tricky if you don’t know what to expect or where to start. First, you need to understand what the music industry is: how it works and how artists get noticed by record labels and managers. Then we’ll talk about how you can break into this exciting world with your own career as an artist or producer!
The music industry is a business. It’s made up of many different parts and it’s a complex ecosystem, but at its core, it’s a network of people who have created businesses that serve the industry.
The music industry is also a collection of many different businesses: record labels, publishers, managers, producers, artists on tour and in the studio, songwriters, agents, and promoters are all part of this ecosystem.
Before you begin, you should have a good handle on the following:
You’ll also want an understanding of how to build a fan base, as well as how to use digital platforms and social media to promote yourself and your brand effectively.
The music business is full of talented people. To break in, you need to be persistent and willing to take risks and work hard. You need to be willing to learn new things and to take criticism.
To get started, you could try self-releasing an album or EP on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, or iTunes; these platforms make it easy for newcomers to get their music out there without the help of a record label or other gatekeeper.
Creating high-quality music is the first step to getting noticed by the right people. This sounds obvious, but it’s something that you need to keep in mind throughout the entire process of starting your career as a musician.
The next step is making sure that your music is heard by the right people.
You can do this through various channels:
Negotiating a win-win is often a process that takes place over multiple meetings. It’s important to be professional and prepared for the negotiation process, including knowing the value of your product and what the other party wants. Keep in mind what the industry standard is and what you know about your competition’s deal terms. Make sure you know who your audience is and where they are located geographically. To get into the music business, you need to be able to walk away from a deal if it doesn’t work for you but always stays open to new opportunities!
The next step is to find a manager. A good manager can help you develop your career and negotiate with record labels, music publishers, film studios, and other businesses that may want to use your music in their projects. The manager knows how to get your music heard by the right people and should also be able to answer any questions you have about what they do or how they can help you succeed as an artist.
The next thing you will probably need is a lawyer who specializes in representing musicians. It’s important that you choose someone who has experience working with artists because this person will be your gatekeeper when it comes down to negotiating contracts for things like publishing deals (which gives them permission to use your songs), endorsements (where companies pay artists for using their likenesses on products) or touring agreements (this gives them permission access venues so they can perform live).
A publicist helps artists create buzz by pitching stories about them to magazines or radio stations without being paid directly by those outlets because these professionals have relationships built over time where they know exactly what types of stories will appeal most effectively to their audience demographic. A stylist works on fashion so if this isn’t something currently part of your interests then perhaps consider hiring one anyway because having clothing fit properly really makes a difference when trying out something new! Finally, the booking agent handles getting shows booked at venues throughout town which means introducing yourself face-to-face and then selling tickets through websites like Ticketmaster or StubHub while also handling transportation arrangements such as travel expenses plus hotel stays if applicable.”
The music industry is a big umbrella term for many different jobs, from artists to songwriters to producers and engineers. It’s a business, but it’s also a lifestyle: some people are only in it for the money, and others love their job so much that they would do it for free if they could just afford to live off their passion. The music industry is made up of artists, songwriters, producers, engineers managers publishers record labels, etc
I hope this article has given you a better understanding of what it means to be part of the music industry. You’ll need to know how your skills and talents can help you succeed in this competitive field, as well as how best to present yourself during an interview process or when negotiating with other people in the business. Your career is yours alone one else will make it happen except for you!
Remember that nowadays, many record companies are huge corporations that own a variety of record labels. For the most part, these companies are located in Lagos, Nigeria. These corporations usually consist of a parent company that owns more than one record label. In today’s economy, most large record companies are huge conglomerates that own a variety of subsidiary record labels. Often, the subsidiary labels are each mini-companies operating under the umbrella of the larger corporation.
To describe the hierarchy of a record company, it’s best to start at the top. The CEO (chief executive officer) is in charge of the business of the whole company. In addition, each label also has its president. Under the president of the individual label, there are vice presidents in charge of different departments. Let’s take a look at the departments that make up a significant record label:
The A&R (artists and repertoire) department is often considered the most glamorous department at a record label. This is because A&R is in charge of discovering new talent. A&R people work very hands-on with the artists that they “sign.” (When a record label “signs” an artist, it simply means that the artist makes an exclusive contract with that record label.) They do everything from assisting with song selection to choosing the people that will produce the album to deciding where the album will be recorded. The people in this department work as the link between the recording artist and all the other departments of the record company.
This department is in charge of all the artwork that goes along with producing an album. This includes CD cover art, advertisements, and displays at music stores.
This department is responsible for planning the careers of the artists who are signed to the record label. It promotes and publicizes the artists throughout their careers. According to Music Biz Academy, many labels no longer have artist development departments. As record labels have come to see artists as products in recent years, some artist development departments have been renamed “Product Development.” Many insist that this is because the emphasis in the current music business is to promote artists very heavily at the beginning of their career, as opposed to long-term planning. *If you don’t want to be a “one-hit-wonder,” pay close attention to how the record label views this aspect of career planning.
This department deals with the business side of things. It takes care of bookkeeping, payroll, and general finances.
This is usually one person, or a small group of people, who serves as the liaison between the record company’s distribution company (either an entirely separate division under the huge corporate umbrella or an outside company responsible for getting the CDs into the stores) and the record company. The label liaison also helps decide when to release an album (when the album goes on sale to the public) and makes sure it doesn’t conflict with any of the other labels the record company owns.
This department is responsible for all the contracts that are made between the company and the artist, as well as contracts between the record label and other companies. Any legal issues that arise (such as lawsuits between an artist and the company) go through this department.
This department creates the overall marketing plan for every album that the record company will release. It helps coordinate the plans of the promotion, sales, and publicity departments.
This department is in charge of dealing with the newer aspects of the music business, including producing and promoting music videos for the artist. In addition, this department is often responsible for helping an artist create a presence on the Internet. It deals with the new technologies in which artists can stream music and music videos through the Internet.
This department’s main purpose is to make sure that an artist is being played on the radio. It must get an artist’s new songs on the radio to ensure the future success of the record company. This department makes sure that all the other departments are communicating about the best way to sell the artist to the public. The promotion department may also try to get videos played on MTV or VH1 channels. This can be the responsibility of this department or in conjunction with the New Media department.
This group is responsible for getting the word out about a new or established artist. It arranges for articles to be written in newspapers and magazines. They also deal with radio and television coverage of an artist. Many artists also have independent publicists who help coordinate publicity with this department as well.
This department oversees the retail aspect of the record business. It works with record store chains and other music stores to get new albums onto retailers’ shelves. The sales department often coordinates these efforts with the promotion and publicity departments.
Remember that any given record label may have a slightly different organization. As large companies buy up smaller record labels, the organization of record companies changes a great deal. Most record companies have their Websites where you can find what labels the company owns and what artists the company is promoting.
Independent musicians are always looking to establish a fan base and promote their original songs/tracks. To do this, they must first become familiar with branding and marketing.
This is because for the business to grow, establishing the specific areas within your business that include things such as colour schemes, logos, and consistent posts across social media platforms are important when making music your full-time career.
Another aspect of marketing your music that should be a top priority is to get yourself an established email list set up. This is owned by you and gives you direct contact with your fanbase so that you can keep your audience up-to-date with upcoming gigs or live performances, or when new music is going to be launched.
The end goal for musicians is to create a solid fan base that you (the musician) can keep in touch with regularly so that they (the fans) know what you’re up to.
This helps you as an artist because you can keep track of your fans by monitoring the lists. It also allows you to reach out to them easily. There are free resources online you can use to do this, but this can also become a lot of work on your part that you might not have the time (or expertise) to do.
Musicians tend to want to focus on their craft – making and performing music – and not on all that goes along with it.
With digital platforms in the online world becoming more of a means to distribute and get noticed, there are multiple opportunities with companies that will allow music submissions by independent music artists. Many of these can take the guesswork out of how to get your music shared and noticed, without you having to do much of the leg work.
Utilizing online music submission software is a way to get your music directly in the thick of things. This site, in particular, called Share Pro, will immediately allow your original music submission to be viewed within a 48-hour window and get back to you if they are going to share your music on their platforms, maybe even work with you or offer a record deal.
It’s a fast-track way of getting your music heard by professionals and can be helpful when you want some feedback to see if your music can truly make “the cut.”
If you’re confident that your music is mixed and mastered and ready for the big leagues, this is a great step for you to take as a musician – you never know who might be looking for your specific sound.
A music licensing company is ultimately one of the best platforms for you to submit your music to, and Marmoset is a great licensing company to start with that cares about giving indie artists new opportunities.
The music licensing process is taken care of by the company, so you don’t have to worry about all of the legalities, allowing you to be more focused on making the music rather than selling it.
The company not only accepts your original music and tracks, but they have a wide range of networks that have already utilized their services to find music. This means that you don’t have to do any networking or submitting directly to professionals, since the consensus is that many music supervisors, filmmakers, or other creatives don’t tend to “try out” new music if they are unfamiliar.
But, when a musician is accepted and part of a bigger library of tracks that creatives already go to find their perfect fit, your chances of being noticed (even on a larger platform) are much better. Plus, when your music is chosen there is an even bigger chance that you may be contacted from that point forward to produce more music for specific projects.
Believe it or not, many music-centred blogs and websites out there want your music to be promoted. One of the main reasons for this is that a lot of times with independent musicians you want your music to be heard in any capacity. There are also no royalty fees necessary as long as your music is copyrighted.
There are multiple music blogs like Indiepulse and Emerging Indie Bands blogs and articles where you can submit to have your music featured. They tend to prefer it to be unsigned and unknown, so newer and emerging music artists should consider this route.
This may now seem almost like a very old-school way of doing things, but this is always an option as a musician. You would simply send out demos of your music to multiple record labels through the mail and/or email.
This method can be a long, uphill battle, and many times your music probably won’t even be listened to (or might be listened to by a lowly intern who doesn’t push it up the chain of command).
One thing you should keep in mind if you submit directly to a record label is that many of them do not accept any unsolicited materials. This can mean two different things: the main one being that the record label themselves is not inviting you to send – which means, unless you were asked to send a demo, don’t do it.
The second thing is almost the same as the first – you have to have had some sort of business association with the record label for them to accept your music submission.
Whether you decide to submit your music is up to you. Still, the insight you gain here points to the idea that as an independent musician, you need to be sure to network and establish relations within the industry as much as possible. There are some easier and more difficult ways to do so, depending on how hard you want to work for it.
After creating the music you’re wanting to share with the public, your next priority should be marketing that music and gaining more visibility. Once you can start establishing relations with others in the business and they start to approach you for new music demos, then you have a shot at an actual record label.
Music streaming giant Spotify is seemingly everywhere. But they are not the only ones expanding their activities in Africa, global music labels are increasingly looking to the continent for new artists and market leaders too. Some of these include Mavins Global, Empire, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Concord Records, and Roc Nation with the latter helping Nigerian artists wizkid, Burna boy, Davido and other fast-rising artists break into the US market and reach
In the past few years, Africa has emerged as a significant market for music labels.
Fueled by a growing young-people population, great musical talent, great culture, and more streaming opportunities, Africa’s music industry is booming. And the world’s major music labels are taking notice.
1. The continent’s population is young and growing fast: According to the UN, Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world. This means that there are plenty of potential consumers who can be reached through marketing campaigns targeting young people. In addition, many African countries have high birth rates which will result in more consumers entering the market over time. For instance, Nigeria was ranked as having one of the fastest-growing populations globally due to its high fertility rate (4) and increasing life expectancy at birth (5). Furthermore, recent data shows that Nigeria will have more than 200 million people by 2050 (6).
The global music industry has been undergoing some major changes recently with streaming becoming increasingly popular among consumers around the world — especially in Africa a continent Fueled by a rowing young-people population, great musical talent, great culture, and more streaming opportunities, Africa’s music industry is booming.
In 2017, Forbes reported that Nigeria was the world’s fastest-growing market for recorded music — up 20% from 2016 — and it’s not alone.
The African continent is a hotbed of musical activity. On top of the fact that it’s home to some of the world’s most well-known musicians (such as Fela Kuti, Angelique Kidjo, Youssou N’Dour) and of course the emerging wizkid, davido, Burna boy and the likes. new artists are emerging every day.
The biggest reason why major labels are so interested in Africa right now? The growth potential is huge. A study by MIDiA Research predicts that digital music revenues will reach US$2.36bn in 2022 in sub-Saharan Africa alone — representing an increase of 40% from 2018.
I hope this helps you to put your best foot forward when sending your music industry professionals a demo of your work. There is a lot of information to be gathered, but it is there for a reason if you follow the simple steps outlined in this article, you are more likely to make the strongest impression on any A&R rep that happens across your demos. Who knows? Maybe it will lead to the break you’ve been working for!
Your song is your work of art. You’ll want to share it with the right people. Normally done over email and social sites, it’s not always easy to network; you don’t know who’s listening and you certainly need A&R reps contact information. I will help you set the scene for success.