The role of A&R has three main responsibilities:

• Finding talent
• Overseeing the recording process
• Assisting with marketing and promotion

A & R can sign new or established talent to the company’s roster. They then continue to work closely with the artist, acting as their liaison to the label’s business affairs department and as an advisor who will help nurture a certain sound and image Their duties include listening to demos, aligning artists with the right producer, and offering creative input.

For the unsigned musician, A&R can be the gatekeepers of the industry. It is not their job to keep you out, so much as it is to find marketable music for their company. A&R reps are the musicians’ point of contact at the label during contract negotiations. They also play an important role in development of the artist – how the band will be marketing, sometimes choosing songs for the musicians to record if they don’t write their own material and building a basic promotional foundation for the album and the band.

According to Allison Klein of How Stuff Works, A&R is seen as the glamorous part of working in a record company:

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.

See more on record labels at How Stuff Works: How Record Labels Work

As you can imagine, going to clubs, scouting new talent, chatting it up with recording studios, superstar producers, and the such, makes this one of the most sought after jobs in the recording industry.

Sales and marketing personnel also keep tabs on radio airplay and follow through by making sure that whenever something does get airplay that it’s sufficiently stocked in the marketplace. The sales department often coordinates these efforts with the promotion and publicity departments. In a major label the sales department may have up to 100 employees.

What does the marketing department do? The marketing department creates an overall marketing plan for every album that the record company releases. It helps coordinate the plans of the promotion, sales and publicity departments.

Marketing also includes organizing street teams, maintaining social network presence as well as traditional broadcasting such as TV and radio. The marketing department is also in charge of the art department.

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 in order 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 if that is not being handled by the video division.

Many successful bands have their own independent publicists.

The publicity department may also be referred to as PR, or press relations. Publicists rely heavily on their contacts in media and may focus on just one area, such as newspapers, websites, TV or radio.

It is the publicist’s job to liase between labels and/or musicians and the media to try and get album reviews, profiles of the band and reviews of live shows.

Sometimes a record label will hire an outside PR firm to create a publicity campaign that runs for a certain length of time. This is generally the time when musicians do interviews to promote a new album. The publicity department will be responsible for gathering press clippings for the label.

The publicity may have a video division that is responsible for gathering video footage of their bands. See more on the Video Division.

Generally the video division reports to the Art Department, which in turn reports to the head of the marketing department.

The video division may also be called upon to create promo videos of bands.

A major label will also have a publicity department. Inside publicity there are people whose job it is to locate all video recorded of their bands. Specifically they are looking for news and media coverage to be archived and used for publicity.

Video Directors:

Directing music videos is a path that sometimes leads to becoming a movie director. A famous example of this is Spike Jonze who began directing commercials and music videos. He has gone on to direct movies such as Adaptation and Jackass: The Movie.

Recording contracts are something that may be overlooked at the indie level, though this is not advisable. When dealing with a major label, however, there is no getting around the legal aspects of doing business together. You need the advice of a good attorney before entering into a contract.

For contract negotiations, an attorney generally charges a set fee rather than a percentage as a manager or agent would.

Traditionally, distribution is how music gets into stores. Distributors have deals with the major record labels and take a cut of each album sold. However, with the rise of digital distribution and a growing interest in indie music, the way that people get their music is changing. 

Here’s a quick look at three avenues of distribution:

Major Labels – The Big Four

Thanks to mergers and acquisitions the landscape of the major label music scene can change dramatically overnight. But basically, the major labels consist of  ”The Big Four”:

• EMI
• Sony BMG Music Entertainment
• Universal Music Group
• Warner Music Group

Why are they called the big four? In the United States the major labels are respresented by The Recording Industry Association of America (or RIAA). The RIAA claims to create and distribute about 90% of the music sold in the United States. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the big four account for more than 80% of the U.S. music market.

What’s so great about the U.S. music market? The United States is the world’s largest music market with about 35% of the world market value. Japan is second and the United Kingdom a distant third.

You can read more about the major labels and market value on Wikipedia: Music Industry

Indie Distribution

An independent record label (or indie record label) is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels.

Heather McDonald has written an excellent definition for indie label’s at About.com:

An indie label is a record label that is independently funded and not connected to one of the Big Four major labels. Indie labels range from home based hobby labels to highly profitable, large businesses. In the 1990s, the line between indie labels and major labels began to blur somewhat, and now some large indie labels are actually distributed by the Big Four major labels.

Indie labels often face an uphill battle trying to get their music heard, as they typically have far fewer financial resources to promote their music than major labels do. Despite the struggle, many labels have survived, and thrived, for years, and many other indie labels may not have lasted forever but had a tremendous impact on music both creatively and in terms of business.

You can learn more about indie music and distribution on Heather’s Music Careers site.

Check out our Top 10 Hits of CD Distribution

Digital Distribution

Digital music distribution involves selling or sharing music in MP3 format. If you are a musician with MP3s of your music, you have two simple options. You can find an MP3 distribution site and have them distribute your music. The advantage of this is that a large site may get millions of visitors every month, increasing your potential audience. Your other option is to create your own website and make your music available there. This method will give you more control and you won’t have to share a cut of your proceeds with a distribution site. However, your music could be hard to find and you will be responsible for promoting your site and getting the word out yourself.

Nowadays, just about anyone with their own music can have it appear in Amazon’s digital downloads or in the iTunes store.  A couple of other big players in online digital distribution are CD Baby and MySpace.

The art department provides an exciting work environment for non-musician creative types.

Art Department Jobs:

Graphic designers may find work at record labels working as cover art designers. The work of a cover art designer is to create album artwork and design the liner notes. A designer’s input depends on what the musicians and/or label wants.

A designer should be familiar with graphic design software. Creative ability is also a must. It also helps to be a music fan as you may be called upon to design a cover that expresses the feel of the album. 

Coming up with ideas can sometimes be a problem. When fresh out of ideas a great way to find inspiration is to look at the work of other designers. One of the most famous and recognizable cover designers is Storm Thorgerson, who has created iconic album covers for bands like Pink Floyd. A lot of his artwork can be viewed at Storm Thorgerson’s website.

Other places to look include include Rolling Stone Magazine’s Readers’ Rock List: Best Album Covers of 2008. As this is a readers choice thing, it may say more about popularity than quality. In any case, the music business is one that panders to popularity.

A good way to stay up to date on designs, trends and developments in cover art is by reading the Music Album Cover Art Blog.

The administrative side of a record company may have little involvement with the artists on a daily basis. If you’re in a band with your own management, you might not even deal with this department directly. If you are a band’s manager, it will benefit you greatly to know how the different departments work.

Jobs in Accounting and Administration:

The business affairs department is one with many job opportunities for non-musicians who want to work in the music industry. The outlook for growth among employees in the accounting field is excellent and expected to grow faster than average. The need for qualified workers in this industry is high since tax and accounting laws and guidelines change so rapidly.

Here is a look at the skills and requirements that may be expected to work in this department.

Education: An Accounting Administration Associate Degree is often a requirement to work in a corporate accounting department. This kind of degree actually allows you to work in just about any industry that requires accounting and bookkeeping services. Studying for an Accounting Administration Associate Degree requires taking courses such as: Basic Accounting, Business Administration, Macroeconomics, Business Computer Applications, Project Management, Spreadsheet Management, Business Statistics, Tax Accounting, Business Law and Auditing.

Skills: To work as an accontant in the business affairs department you should have the following skills: Accounting Skills, Computer Skills, Auditing Skills, Business Administration Skills, Spreadsheet Application Skills, Math Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Finance Skills, Business Statistic Skills, Business Law Skills and Tax Law Skills.

Salary: The salary for accountants will vary depending on location, size of the company and level of responsibility. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, accountants can expect to earn a yearly salary between $32,320 and $88,610.