SPONY

SPONY gives songwriters an opportunity to get heard by someone who is in a position to do something with it. But that’s only the beginning…at our monthly event you will meet other members of the New York songwriting community, in addition to our industry guest panelists. And now with our online events, you get panel discussions, song critiques, workshops (all coming soon!), and can get to know other members of the global songwriting community!

Notes from “Today’s World of A&R”

Mar 12th | Posted by Joy Novie | in Uncategorized | No Comments

We had a wonderful panel of industry veterans willing to share their experience, knowledge and expertise. I was most curious to find out whether the role of A&R had changed much in today’s music world. With companies giving out far fewer deals, and seeming to concentrate on sure money-making “artists and repertoire,” I was surprised to hear that their jobs were still built on the same model. Of course the thing I keep hearing from not just this A&R panel, but practically all of my panelists is the value and power of having a link to a website and/or page where they can browse through samples of music easily and at their leisure. I would greatly encourage anyone who doesn’t have one set up to do it immediately! In fact, I have started asking for it for all the online events which include a pitch portion. This way if a song is not heard on-air, the songwriter’s link will be sent to the panelist the next day and they will have their opportunity to be heard by each one.

I asked specifically about how someone gets past that “no unsolicited material” rule everyone seems to have. The answer was to have someone whom they trust either refer you or represent you. They suggested co-writing with someone who is connected so that you can ride in on their credentials. For those songwriters looking for artist deals they also stressed the importance of getting out into the clubs and performing as much as possible. That goes for wherever the artist is located. Somehow once the buzz starts to build the A&R people will find you. And last, if you can get lucky and get an email through with a link on a day they have some spare time, you have an opportunity to get heard that way.

We heard some great music too. This was a tough group, but of course A&R always has to be with the amount of material they get every week. We only had 3 Keepers for the night, but several more were singled out as “almost – very close!” Perhaps through those links which were sent the next day…

I’ll keep you posted!