The Secret Life of A&R

Traditionally the Artist & Repertoire - or A&R - person did the late nights in sweaty venues to uncover the 'next big thing' - new bands to sign to their record label. But these days record label budgets are being cut and alongside the advent of the internet, is the role of the A&R person dying out? Tony Stamp & Jose Barbosa talk to Robert Stebbing about how it used to be done. Dean from Bounce Records discusses nuturing Nesian Mystik and looks at A&R from an independent perspective while Matt Headland from EMI covers the corporate side. Andrew Tidball discusses how the internet has changed how bands are 'discovered'.