Episode 7: The A&R Process

The A&R (Artist and Repertoire) process can be daunting.  Doc and Trig break down the different components of the process, discuss the give and takes between the artist and the label, along with key considerations that artists should have as they approach a deal.  Special gues Byron Juane joins and shares his experiences too!

How critical is publishing and licensing and how do you do it? If you plan to have a successful career as an artist, you need to find out! In this episode, Doc and Trig are joining by Lynn Lowe, President of Music Services where they have managed the catalogs for more than 250 companies including Reach Records, Goatee Records, Clear Sight Music, Spring Hill Records and more. Throughout they have helped over 34,000 writers involving over 450,000 songs and the issuance of over 250,000 licenses. You’ll be sure to pick up some nuggets from this discussion.

The key to longevity in any business is sustainability and momentum. In the music industry that comes down to catalog power. To build that, one cannot go it alone. We discuss the importance of building a team, what some of those roles are, the trade-offs, and what typically holds people back from doing so. Doc also gives counsel to our hypothetical artist, “Bristol Poppins,” who aspires to become a breakout artist and label owner in five years. #podcast #music #discussion

How do you handle the various stages of business growth, stabilizing a company, building a team and shifting from founder/owner to CEO and team-leader? When you’re growing your venture in the public eye, many see the climb, but not the journey. Entrepreneurship can be filled with the weight of “carving a new groove in the wood,” bouts of loneliness, the fear of failure, and a barrage of key decisions.

Doc has had his share of experiences after driving nearly $500,000 of revenue from the Redemption release with a minimal budget.  He and Trig discuss marketing strategy and ways to optimize spending.  They go in-depth relative to understanding consumer behavior and what drives better online conversion and what things are sub-optimal).

At the time of this recording, in 2019 alone, Reflection Music Group overall had put on 200 songs and had amassed 80 million streams, but this didn’t happen overnight. Doc shares some of the insights on how they launched (in 2009) and run Reflection Music Group, which has five artists. He explains the concept behind Amplify, which helps veteran artists continue to expand their platform through distribution and marketing, touching forty to fifty careers (including RMG light which is a selective paid for service). Doc explains why he says “I never saw myself as a businessman.” He shares some of the real lessons learned around business plans, budgeting, timeliness, etc.. As an example, for Redemption, they had a budget of only $500 to market.

Doc Watson and Trig kick off the interview and discuss how their relationship started. Further, Doc shares his transition from the military to music production, mixtape, events, selling tracks, radio, his migration to Christian Hip-Hop, joining forces with Derek Minor (formerly known as Pro) and the birth of Christlike Entertainment (now Reflection Music Group). Trig shares his journey in secular music, his healthy confrontation with members of the Cross Movement and the enduring relationships that introduced him to CHH.