Research Note: Breaking into the Popular Record Industry

Abstract

■ This study focuses on the career entry and development of professional musicians in the Netherlands. Ten artist and repertoire (A&R) managers, key decision-makers in the selection process at the input side of the record industry, were interviewed to investigate the essential characteristics a musician requires to become a successful professional. In addition, the practices and criteria applied in the A&R manager's selection process were discussed. Based on these interviews, a number of background, personality and contextual factors influencing career success were identified. The musician's social environment should be supportive but critical, while likeability, perfectionism, motivation, insecurity and self-criticism were said to be key personality traits to become successful. For A&R managers, the most important source for finding out about new talent is their professional network. The main criteria for selection are the musician's skills, quality of their music and live performance, and the perceived possibility to sell their music and attract media exposure. The study's findings are consistent with earlier research on the American and British record industry practices, indicating that such practices in the record industry are persistent over time, and that they are similar in other, smaller European music markets.

The working life of musicians: mapping the work activities and values of early-career pop musicians in the Dutch music industry

“…As a result, early-career musicians rely on new Do It Yourself (DIY) and entrepreneurial approaches to work in order to make a living (Young and Collins 2010;Bernardo and Martins 2014). However, the ways in which such musicians aim to build careers and enter the industry remain underexplored (Zwaan and ter Bogt 2009). In order to further our knowledge about what the work activities of early-career musicians look like within the contemporary music industry, in this article we use an electronic diary study method to systematically map their day-to-day routines.…”

Artist and Repertoire Goes Online: Evidence from Poland

“…41 This corresponds with the statement that the music market is a "social network market." Just as listeners shape their opinions of artists based on the recommendations of their social networks, the employees of record companies take advantage of their own networks.…”

How are young music artists configuring their media and sales platforms in the digital age?

“…A range of studies have pointed to the possibilities of the Internet for artists to directly reach their potential audiences and generate sales, and in doing so, the Internet may hold the possibility of cutting out the 'middle-men' of the industry (Towse, 2006;Zwaan & Ter Bogt, 2009). Despite such strong expectations about new technologies, it has proven to be very difficult, however not impossible, for musicians to make it on their own.…”