A&R Primer Part II: Take it Straight from Jason Jordan
Last week we found out what makes Jason Jordan, Vice President of A&R for Hollywood Records, tick. This week, he goes straight to the strong stuff, pulling no punches on the good/bad/ugly on A&R in 2010.
Learn what to do – and what not to do – to get his attention. And that’s if you should even be calling a major label at all. Following are the fast facts, live from Hollywood:
Q: True or false: The role of an A&R person has changed significantly since you entered this career track.
A: True. But I still do things the way I like to do them. I have always, from Day One, used technology to my advantage – I’m a nerd and love anything new that makes my life easier. So the only real extension to what I have always done, is how I may access the content now.
Jason Jordan, VP of A&R for Hollywood Records
Rather than loads of CDs coming at me all day, I have links filling my inbox. I prefer it this way for reviewing music — demos, mixes, whatever — with the ease of access to music and video content I can listen and review so much faster.
I am not a research-driven A&R person so while software like Big Champagne and such are useful tools, in the end I really have to love what you’re doing to sign you. We don’t have a huge catalog or a lot of artists, so what I sign does indeed matter to not only the bottom line, but also the culture and vibe of the company. So I take that very seriously.
I don’t chase singles. I chase bands and artists that I either want to be (or bands that I want to be in) that I think can sell. That’s really the only thing that has changed with me – I don’t have to dig as deep to get an answer about something, so I am a lot more efficient. Also, with 15+ years of major label A&R experience, I have just become better at my job as a direct result of having done the work for so long, learning from my mistakes (and my successes), and listening and learning from the professionals that surround me that have and continue to teach me what they know. It’s always a growing and learning process and if you don’t keep up, you’ve already fallen too far behind to be relevant.
A&R is a dying art, to say the least. Finding talent and signing it is probably the easiest part of the job — it’s what you do with that talent afterwards that counts. There are a lot of younger A&R people out there in the field that have amazing taste but no studio chops. That’s the only disconnect I see out there, and it only makes me a stronger option when pursuing an artist. Having the background and knowledge of how to construct an album from start to finish is a skill-set unto itself. We are a dying breed.
Q: Taking that into account, what do you feel are the most important attributes of an effective A&R person today?
A: Well, I think a good attribute is being honest and completely objective about reality — the things we can control, for instance: how something sounds or the quality of the recording/mix, the song, etc… — but being totally open to opinion when something can and should be improved upon. A&R is a subjective art form anyway you slice it. I don’t have the monopoly on good taste, so I absolutely rely on feedback from not only my peers, but also the people I’m actually making the record with.
Honesty is probably the number one attribute to being an excellent A&R person. Having an opinion, sticking to it, saying it out loud, repeating it out loud to the person who wants to hear your opinion, and then moving forward. I think that’s a good way to live your life anyways and especially when dealing with something so pure as music. Be honest with the artist if it sucks — or the manager or lawyer that pitches you something. That’s all … life is easier that way.
Q: Word! Fair or not, A&R people at major labels today frequently get a bad rap for being out of touch, overly profit-driven, or otherwise not acting in the best interests of music today. Where do you think this reputation comes from? What would you like people who think that to know?
A: Fair enough. Let’s be honest: This is a business so it’s absolutely profit-driven. The balance for me is finding something that is absolutely stunning, but also totally commercial. It is possible to do A&R, be successful and have a standard you apply to your signings, as I do – I’m living proof of that.
My latest signing Alpha Rev rings all of the bells on the art side for me (stunning lyrics, beautiful music) and also I envision their place in the modern landscape of radio and touring. We are in the business of music.
Alpha Rev
The bad rap part, well, is that anything new? Labels have always been guilty of dealing with art as a commodity. That’s the rub, “music” and “business”. Art and commerce. There are certainly labels that are mostly research-oriented when scouting talent, which is like shooting with a big gun and hoping you hit something. With the business model of throwing ten records against a wall and praying one of them wins, the burn rate at which they go through art and artists is disgusting. I get it. I understand that.
Luckily for me I work at a label where artist development is paramount, as we have no catalog to fall back on. We have to succeed. We are a small music group in the grand scheme of things, and certainly have our own business model we are following – which works for us.
So a lot of the larger market share labels tend to — and have to, actually, by the sheer volume of how big they are — put out more product. By putting out more records, that in turn hurts or helps more careers depending on the success or failure of the project, of course. It’s true that there are more failures than successes. It’s a sad fact of the business: art that fails and falls through the crack and becomes statistical – but it’s always been that way. So in my opinion this bad rap is not something new, it’s just something people are more aware of as the microscope is on the record industry even more than ever right now.
Q: Thanks for the insight. What should artists today who want to get your attention know? What’s the right way to get your attention – and what’s the wrong way?
A: Don’t be pushy. I get a lot of media coming at me, from CDs to email. It’s incredible actually and I do my best to check it all out. I only sign one or two things a year so I’m not looking for singles or trends.
So the best way to get anyone’s attention is – be polite and be patient. Don’t send MP3’s without asking first, ever. To me or any other A&R rep – that’s a really assumptive thing to do and hogs up valuable server space. Send links to music that exists on outside servers and just ask if we can have a quick listen. Most people will. I usually do.
Q: That fine line between overly persistent and patient – I hear it all the time. So pursuant to what you just said, what do you want artists who desire long careers to know, whether their aspirations include working with a major label like Hollywood, or just to make some revenue through their art?
A: If you don’t have to deal with a major label, don’t. Do it yourself. With the current state of the record industry there is a tremendous amount of space to maneuver through the minefield, so to speak. It’s easy to put out a digital record, for instance. That’s a good place to start. Build a career. Sell some records. Tour. If you someday want to or need to deal with a major, then by that point someone will have found you already. Oh, the irony. But seriously, don’t wait around for us to find you to do the work. Start now.
Q: It doesn’t get any more straight-up than that! If you could be responsible for one artist signing and album in history (your present portfolio excepted), what would it be? Why?
A: The Clash London Calling. My all-time favorite album. It’s amazing, really. The Clash were the first proper punk band who broke through to the mainstream, who had something to say and said it well, and also managed to fuse reggae and punk in a manner no one had ever done before. They were and are the most groundbreaking band ever.
Q: My Impossible Objects electronic music project is actually working on a cover of “Train in Vain” – I’ll let you know when it’s done. Tell us when your job feels great, and let us know when a VP of A&R feels not-so-fresh.
A: When I saw Breaking Benjamin for the first time on a stage in front of 15,000+ people I thought back to the first day I saw them play for 300 people in a dive in Wilkes-Barre, PA. It gave me chills to know I had a hand in that. That’s satisfying as hell.
Discovering new music that is exciting to me and pushes the envelope — even if it’s not something I’m trying to sign as I am first and foremost a music fan — that’s always a mindbender. I love hearing something new and cutting edge.
The most challenging part of my job is knowing what to sign. As I’ve said, A&R is indeed opinion. I hope that my opinion translates to a larger audience — people who will also think it is as special as I do. So if I only swing a couple of times a year, I really have to have that gut instinct and proceed with the knowledge, as best that I can, that I’m not making a mistake.
Q: Do you get a local assist? Why is NYC still a good place to be in music, both from an A&R perspective, and from an artist perspective?
A: NYC is the capitol of the world. It’s a living, breathing entity. This city can be both superlative and detrimental to art, it really depends on how you use it. I think it is still one of the edgiest and most colorful and diverse cities in the world. The Ramones, that’s all I need to say.
People will always argue about which city is best for a musician, LA or NYC. But it doesn’t really matter in the end unless you plan on building a scene, doing something groundbreaking, and making amazing music. You could be on the moon for all I care, as long as it’s stunning. But NYC does still smoke everywhere else, I don’t care what anyone says!
Q: SonicScoop wholeheartedly agrees. Finally, how is your sector of the music business going to evolve in the next five years, in your opinion?
A: This is the crystal ball question isn’t it? I think the only thing I can be certain of is that people will want media at their fingertips at all times. There will always be people who want to own tangible product, but the future of the music, film and media business is streaming everything: Subscription-based service for all-you-can-eat, all the time. The beauty in it, is that someone will still have to make the content. That’s where I can help.
Q: Let’s see what happens! Anything else?
A: Thanks for the interview and I appreciate you giving me a forum to discuss my career and life. I think this is the most thorough description of my early days and how I became an A&R person that I have ever documented anywhere. I think this Website is an amazing idea and I hope people utilize the tool you are providing. I look forward to reading more interviews with creative people in our business in the future. Thanks again!
Q: No NO no NO no NO NO. Thank YOU! Keep in touch, y’hear? – David Weiss