The most disappointing panel of the week had to be “Major Label A&R Discussion and Demo Critique.” I had not heard of Matt Pinfield since his days at MTV, but once I heard his scratchy voice, I felt like I was in middle school again (note: I bet that statement makes him feel real old).
With these A&R heavyweights in the room, I expected to have an introspective music discussion. However, halfway through the panel, I realized that there is no reason to have these guys anymore (for the time being at least). With social networking, blogging, uber-fans have helped take on the role of filters for the industry. Don’t get me wrong, there will (hopefully) always be tastemakers, but the days of the big shot A&R guys are dwindling. In addition, the bands that do get signed to the majors have the audience and/or cards in place to make it big and do not need the hands of the A&R to sculpt and develop. It’s just not worth the majors’ time developing a band or money to waste paying the A&R guys while they’re trying to make sense of the industry and figure out stable streams of revenue.
When it got time for the demo critique, I was sort of expecting some under the radar talent, but they all just sucked. I did not find noteworthy band or musician in the 10 or so that were played. They lacked originality, general pop-sensibility, and there was an absence of any kind of hook to reel me into the song. This was ironic because the music played at the Music Supervisor panel the previous day had me completely optimistic and impressed at the quality of new music that was out there.
After the panel ended, I wanted to have a personal discussion with a couple of the guys, but they lacked the interest or motivation to talk to me. Why bother showing up if they don’t want to talk to musicians and young professionals such as myself? Would they actually reply to my emails as they said? I may be wrong, but A&R seems to be an unnecessary expenditure for the majors in the current climate of the industry (or maybe forever???) and I feel like those are the first jobs to cut when times get bad.
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Day 4 — Why did I even wake up for this panel?
23 12 2008The most disappointing panel of the week had to be “Major Label A&R Discussion and Demo Critique.” I had not heard of Matt Pinfield since his days at MTV, but once I heard his scratchy voice, I felt like I was in middle school again (note: I bet that statement makes him feel real old).
With these A&R heavyweights in the room, I expected to have an introspective music discussion. However, halfway through the panel, I realized that there is no reason to have these guys anymore (for the time being at least). With social networking, blogging, uber-fans have helped take on the role of filters for the industry. Don’t get me wrong, there will (hopefully) always be tastemakers, but the days of the big shot A&R guys are dwindling. In addition, the bands that do get signed to the majors have the audience and/or cards in place to make it big and do not need the hands of the A&R to sculpt and develop. It’s just not worth the majors’ time developing a band or money to waste paying the A&R guys while they’re trying to make sense of the industry and figure out stable streams of revenue.
When it got time for the demo critique, I was sort of expecting some under the radar talent, but they all just sucked. I did not find noteworthy band or musician in the 10 or so that were played. They lacked originality, general pop-sensibility, and there was an absence of any kind of hook to reel me into the song. This was ironic because the music played at the Music Supervisor panel the previous day had me completely optimistic and impressed at the quality of new music that was out there.
After the panel ended, I wanted to have a personal discussion with a couple of the guys, but they lacked the interest or motivation to talk to me. Why bother showing up if they don’t want to talk to musicians and young professionals such as myself? Would they actually reply to my emails as they said? I may be wrong, but A&R seems to be an unnecessary expenditure for the majors in the current climate of the industry (or maybe forever???) and I feel like those are the first jobs to cut when times get bad.
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