Net gain: Virtual A&R requires a D.I.Y. ethic

by Nick Krewen, Summer 2008

When Sony BMG U.K. announced in the spring of 2008 that it was dispensing with accepting CDs as demos, the digital age was officially ushered in for emerging recording artists hoping to land a major contract. It’s no surprise, really. Why clutter company A&R cubbyholes with discs and files when practically all the info you need about an aspiring artist or band is just a click away?

What about here at home? Have Canadian artist-and-repertoire departments at the four major labels and two independent labels – EMI Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada on the major side; True North Records and Linus Entertainment from the indie aspect – fully embraced the Internet to the point of changing their approach? Yes...and no.

For example, most labels — with the notable exception of Universal and to a lesser degree, EMI — still accept the submission of physical demos, as in CDs. “We’ve been phasing this out for the last couple of years,” says Shawn Marino, Universal A&R director, who heads a seven-person team. “Thankfully, because of MySpace and whatever else, we’ve reduced the landfill and been able to surf on our own. If somebody e-mails me an unsolicited URL connecting to an act on MySpace, you’re going to get a listen, because of the ease of use. So we’re very, very active on the web.”

Due to the “hundreds” of physical demos he receives weekly, EMI A&R director Fraser Hill is also pushing for more acts to digitally submit their material. “We’re starting to move people more to digital, where if they have an MP3, they can send it to a specific inbox,” says Hill, who says he directly signs an average of two acts yearly. “There, we can adjudicate and go to the recent MySpace or whatever platform the band is using to make the public aware of them.”

However, True North Records and Linus Entertainment president Geoff Kulawick still prefers physical delivery. “I like CDs, but I may be one of the dinosaurs,” he says with a laugh. “My problem when I’m in front of my e-mail is that I’m working – and it’s really hard to listen to music at the same time as you’re working. I like to get CDs, because I can take them in the car with me and listen to them on my own time or in any room of my house. I’ve spent too much time clicking open e-mails and listening to music. It’s not my idea of fun.”

Canadian record companies admit that although none of them has signed or discovered an act through the Internet, where the web really comes in useful is as a follow-up tool: all of them use the popular social networks for research. Currently, MySpace is the predominant favourite of A&R reps, and it’s not difficult to understand why: you’ve got music, tour dates, photos, bio information and maybe even a performance clip or video for the act’s newest song, all concisely – and virtually – presented in one place.

“MySpace is just convenient,” says Steve Blair, vice-president, A&R, Warner Music Canada, which accepts only solicited physical demos. “While I’m working, it makes it easier to multitask.”

One aspect of MySpace that Blair particularly takes note of is the potential of building – and tracking – a fan base, whether it’s reactions to the music you just posted or the concert you just played, or the number of so-called “friends” you’ve attracted to your site. “Community is really important,” notes Blair. “Communicating with the fans is important. That’s something we can’t create: the artist creates that.”

Even if a huge number of eyes and ears are attracted to an artist’s MySpace page, Sony BMG Canada’s director of A&R, Greg Boggs, says that factor alone is not usually enough to earn a major label commitment. “It still comes down to the quality of the songs, the ability of the band from the live standpoint, the passion and dedication of the band, right down to the look, the image, the attitude, the personality,” he says. “There are so many things that go into being a successful artist.”

So what are the recommendations for an efficient MySpace profile?

• First of all, although you have all this virtual real estate at your disposal, don’t go crazy posting everything under the sun. “Always put the best material up there,” says EMI’s Fraser Hill. “I don’t know if we need eight or nine songs up there – two or three get to the point of what we’re looking for.”
• Encourage on-site feedback, says Warner’s Steve Blair. “I always like looking at the comments with an eye to what people say, and to see whether there are any popping up as repeat visitors. I can develop a sense of how rabid their fan base is.”
• Universal’s Shawn Marino insists that up-to-date information is crucial. “An EPK [electronic press kit], photos, background information are all important – but contact info is a must.”
• Listing your up-to-the-minute touring schedule should also be a priority. “Make sure I can see when they’re playing and touring. I would always want to see them perform,” says True North and Linus’s Geoff Kulawick, echoing a sentiment expressed by the other executives that they would never sign an act without hearing them in a live setting.

As Sony BMG’s Greg Boggs notes: “You really have to be pretty scrappy these days and do a lot on your own and a lot for yourself before you can really, honestly expect a partner.”

But the power that MySpace can yield is growing. In 2008, Toronto-based Lights, a 21-year-old female pop singer and songwriter, became MySpace’s most popular unsigned artist with over 2.2 million visitors to her site. Manager Jian Ghomeshi says that, aside from an Old Navy ad campaign that utilizes four songs from her current self-titled EP, Lights has received no airplay and no press, but has managed to sell 40,000 downloads in the U.S. as well as a consistent amount of merchandising.

Currently being courted by several U.S. labels, Ghomeshi says the organic reaction to her music may be the wave of the future. “She’s a new-millennium case study,” he says. “She’s a model in the sense that all of this is happening outside the traditional elements of a successful music career. It’s all based on a connection people have with her music.”

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