There are several ways artists can get heard by a label. There’s the traditional way of being at the right place at the right time and meeting A&R [Artists and Repertoire], or meeting someone at a label that can send your music to an A&R. That’s the traditional way of going in an elevator and singing for an Executive. A lot of that doesn’t happen anymore.
But there’s also the way of just building a relationship with someone from the label and sharing that that’s your drive: you want to be an artist. Sharing your music, making it accessible and easy for them to actually listen to.
A&Rs will find you. There have been tons of times where we found an artist before the artist knew we found them. That’s our job: to go find and scout amazing talent that we know we can break and bring to the next level.
Another way is social media, let’s be real. With social media, do your research and follow the right people. Once you find one person at a label, it connects you to another person. Everyone’s praise is pretty public, so send them a DM and share your music, make it accessible for them, or email the person as well.
If you know that you’re that talented, you may just stumble across that A&R person at a label who’s like, “Hey, I’m gonna open up this email and I’m gonna read it,” and they end up being like, “Yo, I’m gonna listen to your music,” loving it, and replying to it.
Be persistent and always work on your craft. Just because you’re not getting any acknowledgment from the label doesn’t mean that the label isn’t looking, or that a representative isn’t looking. Constantly work on your craft because artists need to stay in the independent mindset. When you get signed to a label, you still have to maintain that mindset because it was one of the reasons why you got signed in the first place.
I gave three ways: There’s the traditional way. There’s networking—the way of social media, the internet, plugging, figuring out emails from LinkedIn, or meeting people. And then there’s just working on your craft and A&R will end up finding you.