It isn’t news that the past decade has brought tumultuous change to the music industry. Advances have primarily impacted the way music is accessed, distributed and paid for. But, few companies in our sector have harnessed technology to its full extent to optimize their business processes.

While most music companies have incorporated data mining and social trending statistics into their discovery processes, the fundamental way the industry sources new songs and talent has remained unchanged. Isn’t it time we re-think how we conduct A&R?

We think of A&R as the process by which we find and help create great musical products. In reality, A&R’s primary business function is to reduce risk by identifying or creating highly compelling product and managing promotion efforts to reduce the likelihood of failure in the marketplace. So, in terms of risk reduction, traditional A&R was only adequate when the business climate afforded companies the luxury of having occasional successes compensate for far more frequent flops. In today’s new music business, narrower margins, smaller budgets and fragmented audiences require a more efficient approach than primary reliance on golden ears and talented gut instincts. Additional and supplemental tools are needed to create success more often than failure, or at the very least, improve success rates to a more manageable level.

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