Organisation of Artist Label Onboarding & Release Project
From the inception of working within an artist’s service record label context, there is the expectation that artist onboarding / client acquisition is undertaken through AnR roles. As given in NOS CCSMB15 (2015) - This is about being able to spot artists with commercial potential and being able to develop that potential. Requiring a good knowledge and understanding of genre distinctions, crucial trend spotting of what is popular & well received by audiences, and the ability or resources to develop their repertoire. As label catalogues are also sometimes oriented towards a particular style of music, for initial artist onboarding the genre of rock influenced bands have been mutually sought - including across classic rock / hard rock / psych rock / indie rock.
With this in mind, when seeking out bands for onboarding to the label I have approached multiple who’d fit this brief. Preliminary information detailing the label’s services, aims and standing was initially discussed. Followed by in-person meetings to further conversation on production projects, the independent and grassroots ethos of the label, and the recording studio facilities available. Being an independent artist service label, the distinction between the label as a publishing house separate from myself as an engineer was also emphasised. With detail regarding financial arrangements being conveyed to accurately reflect the freelance engineer position of myself ultimately working not for the label but for the artist / client themselves who’s projects I could then support further through label publishing / promotion - providing additional value for the hiring of services. From the outset of each band's onboarding, these arrangements were mutually understood and confirmed.
Details regarding the later stages of Band 1s production project undertaking have been noted in the entries accompanying this research’s initial proposal - ending in a sunk cost of time due to hiring rates being waived and a breakdown in mutual understanding to the projects approach and arrangement. It should be noted that the lack of knowledge around the distinction between record labels that are independent and backed by a major is a prevalent issue from my own direct experience - it is recommended that this should be included in wider onboarding discussions with clients / artists however, even with that there can come discrepancies in the subjective view of what a record label constitutes and that client expectations should be made realistic through effective communication of what services are available to them. In & out of scope detailing of services available in this regard is a good approach to ensure this.
As was utilised with Band 2s release track project - these arrangement details were explicitly clarified and mutually agreed to be understood. Following the initial liaisoning, release plans were drawn up and post-production on tracks were undertaken which present the initial outputs of Band 2s repertoire. These have followed an early-work presentation of live-recorded tracks that will then be later polished in the studio process of track-by-track recording to develop their repertoire and showcase the progression of their sound.
