Do you have to be someone special or have a special talent to work for a record label.?

Question

I want to be like the person who goes and listens to people any see if they are good. Then if they are i get them to work for my record label. Can anyone do that?

Answer 1

A/R rep or a scout. Yes you could get one of these positions without being a musician or a music degree. However you have to in some form or other show that you would make a good filter for what is sellable and what is not.

Sellable does not mean good sounds either. What I would suggest is starting out doing reviews of music. Become someone who others look to for an opinion of what is good and what is not. Many online and offline Zines are looking for new reviewers all the time. Start with your own blog and weekly look for places to write for. Your blog becomes your portfolio of reviews for examples.

This would be a long ans slow process but you could one day (when you are 60, or younger) be hired as an A/R rep for whatever labels still exist at the time.

With technology allowing ever more artists the ability to run a label on their own. There is an ever increasing need for people to become filters of what is hot and what is not. You may even find other areas that you are good at instead. And you never know you might have your name on the album cover or booklet insert of a future album being released. I know that always feels good to me when it happens.

Answer 2

I think you just have to be able to get the job. But please, PLEASE, do me a favor and reject talentless "artists" like Fallout Boy and Miley Cyrus if you do. Thank you.

Answer 3

lol...sure, record companies set up people for these jobs all the time. especailly those with no skills, no experience, and no history in the industry....LOL....NOT !!!  Yes, you have to be a producer, or a musician who has already had albums out etc, or some one who was a top exec. at a music company for years... These jobs are near impossible to get...and millions of people are trying...good luck

Answer 4

naw u only need a special talent

Answer 5

i think miley has a little bit of talent.......her songwriters have alot of talent....anyway

i used to work for universal records, and connections help, but they aren't necessary.  my cousin does the exact job you are describing, and its called a scout.  he works for sony-BMG though.  the thing is, they usually like musicians, and people with music degrees.  my cousin was a musician for several years, and had a degree in music business from NYU, one of the most competitive music industry programs there is, as it was the very first one pretty much at a real university.  anyone CAN do it, but most people who do are prepared in that manner.  you can probably get a job at an indie (independent, which just means small) label as a nobody, but that won't be a very stable job i should say.  by the way, the record label industry is going down, now that people are proving that you don't need one, that's why i switched to management instead