Free Game: Approaching A&Rs as an Independent Artist or Producer

On a daily basis, I get a lot of emails/DMs from artists and producers with an audio track or a link to one that says “hey you should check me out” or “yo listen to my shit”.

1. I’m not an A&R (well I am when it comes to beats for Izzy and occasionally I pitch for producers), this is not my department most of the time, I currently have very very limited ability to do anything with your music.
2. I don’t want to listen to anything with this wack ass approach and I know actual A&Rs don’t either, especially when they probably get 100s of emails every day.

Advice

1. BE PROFESSIONAL AND SHOW YOUR TALENT. If the track is “not your best” do not share it. These A&Rs get 1000s of tracks, if your shit is ass they will never open another email from you again
2. DON’T SEND AN EMAIL TO 100 PEOPLE, SEND THEM INDIVIDUALLY AND PERSONALIZED. I regularly laugh when someone sends me an email and I can see every single person it was sent to. That automatically makes me uninterested and uncomfortable because you just shared other peoples contact information.
3. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Search the A&Rs that you want to reach out to, figure out where they work, who they work with, what genres they handle, what projects they were involved in, etc. Read press about them, listen to panels that they have been on, look through their socials, see if they have a website.
4. COVER YOUR BASES. Follow them on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, etc
5. UNDERSTAND YOUR COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP. Follow Mind Your Music Biz and sign up for the “Metadata Collection and Creation” Course. Learn how to register and protect your music properly, this makes your value as an artist/producer significantly higher.
6. HIRE ME TO CREATE YOUR BRANDING COLLATERAL (artist bio, EPK, One-Sheet) via email samantha@samanthajuels.com or IG DM @sjunlimited

Email Template:

Hello (name of A&R),

My name is (name), professionally known as (artist name). I am reaching out in regards to possible opportunities for (features/beat placements). I am aware that you work with (labels & artists that you know they work with that you…