10 things to ask any artist you are interested in signing…….BEFORE you sign them...

The Soul Guru is back……I'm a GREAT A&R…I've signed the bands and sold the albums to prove it……so how come I'm so good ?
Here are 10 questions that I asked all artists before signing them :

1) Tell me about your self…you hopes,dreams and aspirations
2) Who are you artistically …what are the things that inspire you ?
3) Can you take constructive criticism ?
4) Do you trust me to do my best for you ?
5 ) Will you be prepared to make concessions and compromises ? If so I don't want to work with you ..NO CONCESSIONS NO COMPROMISES….
6) Which football team do you support ? If the answer was " Portsmouth " then we had a major problem…thankfully it never was !
7) What's your favourite album ?
8 ) What's your favourite movie ?
9 ) What do you want to sign to me ?
10 Where are we having dinner ?

Before signing an artist it's vital to get to know them…and their manager ……are they potential nightmares ? ? ? Will the lead singer being calling at 3 am when he has a minor problem that he thinks is " urgent " ?
Can I work with them and will it be enjoyable ?
Are they just interested in being famous or do they want to make GREAT music ?

There are more questions than answers……that's a great song !

The Soul Guru loves YOU

X

What is " good taste " ?

On Thursday I had the honour and privilege to lecture on"  A&R and Artist Development " to students at University of Westminster studying for MA in Music Business .
 I really enjoyed the evening....especially the questions after my talk.
 Towards the end of the discussion I put my last post " 10 things you need to be a great A&R " on screen and went through all the points
Point 1 is...." Great Taste "......and a student asked me to define " great taste "...a great question which I have pondered ever since
After due consideration I have decided that :

Great Taste is impossible to define.....I love Curtis Mayfield and loathe Status Quo....you may love Status Quo and loathe Curtis Mayfield.....neither of us is right nor wrong....our taste in music is entirely subjective

HOWEVER...there's always a however with the Soul Guru ...I believe that great taste is linked to :

LOVE of music...I fell in LOVE with SOUL music aged 11 when I bought " Just My Imagination " by The Temptations
STUDY of music ...once I fell in love with SOUL it became an obsession....I grew to know great music from mediocre
COMMITMENT to music....it became my obsession,my life ,my LOVE
SELF-BELIEF........for example on Thursday after a discussion about whether a Soul artist could ever be the biggest artist in the world a student said he thought Emeli Sande could be... I disagreed as I think she's bland and MOR..I prefer Laura Mvulu...it was a great conversation...I took his opinion on board ...

I've been called arrogant,opinionated and much worse......I've never cared what anyone thought about me....talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words.....my love of, and commitment to ,British Black Music,Dance Music  and Electronic Music can never be doubted...I talked the talk and walked the walk............I always will....I AM The Soul Guru...

10 most important things you need to be a GREAT A&R

So what do you need to be a GREAT A&R like me ?
1) GREAT taste...obvious but lacking nowadays at most labels
2) Commitment to your artists before the label...once trust between A&R and artist is broken it's all over....for both parties
3) Understanding of your artists....every artist I've ever worked with is insecure...some pretend they're not but believe me they are...their worst nightmare is failing
4) Passion....but not BLIND passion
5 ) A genuine love of.....MUSIC
6) An understanding of the audience
7 ) Realistic expectations
8 ) An ability to stay up late
9 ) A sense of humour
10 ) The  SECRET of A&R....if you want to know it then come to my A&R Lecture at University of Westminster tomorrow......

You can't succeed without knowing it.....

The Soul Guru

Major label " A&R " today…where are we ?

The Soul Guru is back in Brighton where it all started for me 40 years ago….so where are we now compared to then I ask myself ?
Back in the 70's being a SOUL boy or girl was like being part of a secret society…..amazing record shops selling records that only we knew about…Robbie Vincent and Greg edwards on the radio on a Saturday…The Goldmine,Crackers,The Papillon,The Hilltop……
Last Saturday I drove back to London from Brighton and listened to Radio 1's Chart run-down for the first time in years….I was appalled ….what the FUCK has happened ? ?
I'm aware that I'm 58 so not the target audience of this shit…and that to many label people I'm an anachronism…past-it….no longer relevant…..I still have great ears and good taste -the new Flying Lotus,2 Bears and New Build albums are excellent…..
 Major label A&R is a fucking joke…these idiots don't return calls or answer emails ..they're too busy asking Pharrell to appear on their latest lame track…or asking the same bunch of Producer or Writers to create a track that sounds like everything else out there…no wonder no one cares about these talentless vacuous shameless fools masquerading as " artists " …don't make me fucking laugh….

Ed Sheeran is a fucking Tory…appearing at private parties paid millions …what a wanker…none of the artists I signed would cross the road to piss on a Tory if they were on fire…neither would I
Every " Dance act "  is upper-middle-class posh boys…Hi Disclosure etc…I've heard all of them interviewed by Rob da Bank….they're the only people who can afford Apple products
The female " artists" are all identical….talentless…brainless…hoping to be the next Cheryl Cole…what an ambition…

I signed :

Loose Ends
Maxi Priest
Soul II Soul
Inner City
Working Week
Mantronix
I-Level
LeftField
Grooverider
DJ Rap
Pressure Drop

I KNOW and LOVE great British Black Music and great British Electronic Music

I pity the sad A&R beagles of today…locked in their offices,headphones on,desperately hoping to sign another talentless fuckwit to keep them in a job for another year…i NEVER wore headphones…I played music LOUD LOUD LOUD all day …it's a record label for fuck's sake ! ! !

Best Wishes to all A&Rs out there…may you sign artists with your heart…not your calculator

The Soul Guru

X

What Makes A great A&R ?….Part 6…...

Ok guys so now it's time for me to come clean….I know it's hard to believe but I'm not perfect !
I A&R'd from my heart and my passion for music still burns brightly……it will never die .
I must be honest…I was not easy to work with……I know my colleagues at Virgin,Sony and BMG will concur…in fact I was pretty unpopular with most of them……why ? Because I never cared what anyone else thought of the bands I signed and the music they recorded…sorry if that sounds arrogant but once you start asking people their opinion of a track everyone becomes an expert " the vocal isn't right ".. " the guitar is too loud "…" the mix isn't right "…etc etc…..I AM THE A&R MAN…ONLY MY OPINION MATTERS ...Simon Draper told me that
 I was very difficult to work with …I know that and I regret a lot of things I did and the way I behaved at times  ( you will read all about it the book I'm writing ) …but you must understand that I came from a record shop ,never had any expectations of working for a record label….I'm entirely self-taught at A&R…I've got  GREAT ears….the only person I owe anything to is the late great  Erskine Thompson..I owe him everything.

 A&R is the heartbeat of any label…without great A&R then what does have a label have ?
 I was always prepared to put the interests of my artists first…..that's why me and my artists were so tight….they knew they could TRUST me…..TRUST is the most important thing between A&R man and artist..once that breaks down it's all over…..bar the dropping
 My attitude and general demeanour did not endear me to my bosses ,the only one I respected was Simon Draper because he was a GENIUS A&R man….again I regret some of my behaviour but I didn't like anyone telling me what to do if they don't know what they are talking about....most MD's and Chairman think they are A&R men...they're not,they're executives.....you don't tell me how to A&R and I won't tell you how to run the company was my attitude.
 Through my years in the business I have encountered a lot of people whose sole priority was keeping their job…they sat on the fence,never made a decision and were happy to maintain the status quo of bland mediocrity…..I couldn't live like that…I don't do mediocre/ordinary/average……



Sorry ,I digress ,……where was I …where am I ? I'm back in Brighton where it all started for me 40 years ago
I say I've retired …..but I tell lies all the time…..I AM The Soul Guru and I WILL be back

The Soul Guru LOVES you x

PS.....And now I AM back...better than ever......