Free A&R Music Industry Contact List and 101 Music Business Contracts

When a Record Label A&R, Music Manager, Music Publisher or Music Producer states that they only accept solicited material, this means that you need to ask permission to send a package. Simply mailing them your demo & promotional material in high hopes that they will listen to your music is not likely to be successful, although this strategy has worked for some artists in the past. Making contact with your intended music industry professional & making sure that they are expecting your package seriously increases your chances of being heard. It is also important to get professional Audio Mastering by a professional before sending your CD to A&R reps. You should definitely make contact with A&Rs that accept unsolicited material to make sure that they will be expecting your package. You should always call first before submitting your material. This will ensure that your package will get priority over another unsolicited package. It is part of the A&R assistant’s job to listen to demos, check emails and receive faxes for the A&R that they work for. Your demo should be 3-5 songs, make sure that you include your greatest material with the best song first. You want your music to grab an A and R reps attention in the first 15 seconds.

You don’t have to be a famous music mogul to be solicited. When speaking with A&Rs, music managers, publishers & producers you must be extremely professional even when you are speaking with an assistant. These people are responsible for filtering out calls from amateurs. The important thing is to build a relationship with everyone you come in contact with. Find out the names of everyone that you come in contact with. Ask them questions like who they have worked with in the past & what styles of music they prefer. It is much better to pinpoint A&RS, Managers, producers & publishers that work in your style of music. Don’t waste your efforts! Always be ready to explain who you are & what you are doing.

If you have a website with some music clips the manager or label will tend to listen to what you have to say. Don’t ever call a record label like a rookie & start telling them that you are platinum & whatever. These days the most important thing an artist can have is a website. We wrote an extensive section in the All Music Industry Contacts CD-Rom that explains exactly how to build your website for little or no money. When calling record labels it is extremely important to make friends with assistants, secretaries & receptionists. Ask them if they will accept your package & listen to your music. You may even be doing them a favor by entertaining them for a few minutes. Remember that some people who work at record labels are just doing a job & sometimes don’t get the money or respect that they deserve. Try & light up their day with your upbeat personality. If you want to be in the music industry you must be able to handle rejection as well.