The A&R Guru

This band that I’m about to present to you took America by storm when they performed on America’s Got Talent. They sang an original song about their mom who died of cancer, you may have heard of it. Does “Heaven’s Not Too Far” sound familiar? If it doesn’t, their audition can be watched here. Fair warning — you may cry because I absolutely bawled. Emotional intelligence plays such a huge role in the realm of A&R.

Technically, We Three has already been discovered, but I want to feature them because of the impact they had on me. They made a huge statement on a big platform, and TV show. For me, I would just usually watch the auditions and not go any further into the show so one day, randomly, they came up in my head and I couldn’t remember their name for the life of me. It bugged me so much. Clearly I ended up finding them since I’m making this post. Anyway, the song that they ended up performing on America’s Got Talent was stuck in my head, and I bet you all can’t figure out where I re-discovered them. Ding ding ding, it was TikTok. Since my ‘for you’ page is catered to my likings, We Three came up one day and it was as if I was rediscovering them all over again. 

Their song, “Secrets” came out in January of this year, and this is what gravitated me towards them. “Secrets” has surpassed 1 million streams on Spotify. This song is about those who struggle with mental health and that they’re not alone in their struggles or journey. Because of this, We Three relates many of their songs to real life experiences. In my personal opinion, when an artist or singer-songwriter can relate to their fans, their listeners, their audience, it makes their music much more relatable and more people are tended to gravitate towards them. This results in fans wanting to go to concerts and see their shows, buy their merch, etc. Anything that shows their dedication as fans and what they can do to support them will be done.

For those of you who don’t know the band consists of three siblings: Joshua, Bethany, and Manny. Their music is mainly established in pop and indie genres. Focusing on the data side (oh, I know it’s very exciting, but it proves a point), We Three has about 483,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Many may not know this, but since the industry transitioned from CDs to streaming services it is hard for artists to make a living just on streams. That’s why there’s concerts, merchandise, and more. Basically anything that can move them forward in the industry and by making a profit from it.

We Three is continuing to grow and I truly believe that they have established a true connection with their fans, and continue to impact people with their sound, music, and lyrics. They will continue to establish an audience, like many, who are willing to listen.

We Three is currently signed with Palawan Productions, and like many they are excited to get back on the road and perform!

As always, I will link their socials below so you all can check them out! That’s it for this week’s spotlight! Stay tuned for next week!

Website. Spotify. Apple Music. TikTok. Instagram. Facebook.

One of the most important things that you need to know as an audience is that in the music industry, and specifically in the realm of A&R, professionals are gravitated towards artists/musicians/producers etc. who have made an impact on them personally, and who are going to make an impact on others. 

Let’s take myself for example: I knew I wanted to be in the music industry when I noticed how I responded emotionally to the artists that I would see perform on shows such as The Voice, America’s Got Talent, X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent (anyone remember Susan Boyle)? I didn’t really know how I was going to get into the music industry, or where I would even start because let’s be real I am not musically talented whatsoever. I kind of doubted myself, and thought that I would have to know what an octave was or how to read lyrics or even know how to play an instrument. It’s a good thing I’m more behind the scenes and in the business aspect of this industry.

I love to sing and hum, but relatively so, I do it in the shower. We all sound better in the shower. Isn’t that why it takes us so long to get out? We’re having our own little concert!

It’s interesting because I never really knew the technical term for what I wanted to do until I reached college. I would describe it to my friends, and one of them (thank you, Avery) was like “why don’t you do A&R?” And that’s when it all came together.  Those of you who don’t know, A&R stands for artists and repertoire aka discovering new talent. I am gravitated towards the artists who move me emotionally, and I feel as if I have a gift for discovering talent. 

With that being said, many have different styles and tastes of music. Not everyone is going to like the same thing that you like. The beauty of the music industry is that there are different genres and artists that you’re gravitated towards based on your own likings. Some may like hip-hop, rap, or R&B where others can like alternative, indie, or pop music. Some may even like a little bit of everything. Everyone caters differently to music. 

Now, the real reason you’re here is to see what artist I’ve discovered this week, right? I came across this artist yesterday and I knew I had to write about him. So, introducing week number two’s artist, I present to you, Isaac Dunbar. Isaac caught my eye on TikTok, he posted a video of a song he just wrote and shared a little bit of it and because of that, I was mesmerized. 

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Video via Isaac Dunbar’s TikTok.

As an A&R professional, I’ve realized that we thrive off of research and data (after the emotional impact, of course). These are two very important aspects in this part of the industry.

Now to tell you a little bit more about Isaac and the impact he is making on the industry. Dunbar is an eighteen-year-old singer-songwriter from Massachusetts. According to Chartmetric, a music analytic tool, he has been posting songs since he was twelve to SoundCloud where he slowly built an audience. It’s important to know and see the data because it shows how successful artists are becoming and where they are going in the industry. As mentioned earlier, Isaac came up on my for you page performing an original song and I did some research on who he is as an artist. Once I started researching him and looking at his streaming sites I wondered why I never found him before yesterday. He is incredibly talented. He recently signed with RCA Records back in 2019. 

As for social media, he has almost 49,000 followers on TikTok and almost 500,000 likes total on his profile. His Instagram is growing with almost 80,000 followers. Social media is continuing to change the game for this industry. According to Spotify, he has a total of 93,000 followers and 1.1M monthly listeners. Deezer is another music streaming platform where he has 1,100 fans along with 60,600 channel subscribers on YouTube and 9.3M channel views (all according to Chartmetric). This data clearly shows how well he is doing and how he will progress in the industry. 

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s spotlight! I will link his socials and streaming platforms below so you all can check him out! As always send your new music finds our way — we’re just a message or email away! Have a great rest of the week. 

Spotify. Apple Music. TikTok. Instagram. YouTube. Deezer. SoundCloud. Official Website. 

Hi everyone, and welcome to the first ever weekly spotlight! I mean it’s technically not the beginning of the week (it’s Saturday) but it still counts, right? I’m so glad you’re here. Music is known to bring people together.

This is where I’m going to shine some light (ha, get it?) on the artists that I have discovered via social media (i.e. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube) or on a streaming site such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc! You get the point. I will tell you about them, why I chose them, and why I was gravitated towards them as an industry professional.

I recently found this artist on TikTok and was instantly hooked. Did anyone else download that app as a joke and now it’s totally addicting? Hopefully it’s not just me.

Okay, okay I’m getting to the point. With that being said introducing our first ever weekly spotlight, Sam MacPherson!

_{Images of Sam MacPherson via Atwood Magazine.}

TikTok has ultimately changed the way how many look at the music industry. For example, record labels and publishing company’s have taken a different approach towards A&R. TikTok has gained a lot of traction due to the amount of talent that independent artists, producers, musicians, singer-songwriters have showcased on this app. And Sam MacPherson is one of those people.

Sam MacPherson is a twenty-three year old singer-songwriter and musician from New Jersey (via thread).

I discovered him once my algorithm and for you page catered to my likings. MacPherson’s song, “Last Minute,” was what drew me to him. He teased a snippet of this song on TikTok before he released it on April 8, 2021. Now, I’m more of a Spotify gal, but other streaming sites are just as important. With that, MacPherson has tons of recognition on Spotify resulting in about 7,670 followers and 475,500 monthly listeners. This particular song has excelled with about 314,700 streams, and can be listened to here. This song is just what gravitated me towards him, and his style is so unique! He knows his sound and wants to share it with everyone. He is clearly making an impact on the industry with his music.

That’s it for this weeks spotlight!

I’ll link all of his socials below so you all can check him out!

Spotify. TikTok. Instagram.