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[Dave Foyer]

I believe that any A&R person who sits in an office listening to demos is not going to last long. A&R is all about getting out on the streets and picking up on the 'buzz' that bands are creating. Watching them working away in small venues around the nation and going through local rags from smalltowns'ville to track which bands are making the difference at street level. David Bates himself deserves more respect than almost all the industry, he worked his way up through the ranks and has always beleived in the bands he has signed, from Def Leppard when he was 19, through Tears For Fears, Texas and Scott Walker to the current crop of acts. He believes in true "A&R" rather than the stereotypical wanna be who bring the industry into disrepute these days.

OK, rant over, back to work.

[ghost]

I kind of agree, in most cases the labels step in when the band/artist is likely to make them cash. Still, if they didn't listen to demos, they'd miss an awful lot of good acts.... ahnowigeddit...

[cow tipper]

Originally posted by delboy:
hope that spanish dude from db records comes back again, first A&R man i've ever seen actually do his job (i.e actually go and see bands instead of scoffing free beer)

He was made redundant. DB don't seem to have any bands on their roster, either.

[cow tipper]

God... I should really read replies before posting.

Anyway, in addition: DB was for a time funded/part owned by BMG. The deal fell apart, and I guess DB couldn't afford to pay the Spanish chap anymore. So he wasn't 'sacked'.

Originally posted by Dave Foyer:
As spotted on a site in Holland...

What were you doing surfing dutch websites?

[bryn]

I will send my bands demo in, altho there is like 9 tracks... shoudl be off in a few days, wat kind of stuff should the bio say?

It should explain why your demo CD has 5 more tracks than required.... or you could just pick your 3/4 best as the submittion guidelines state.

You'll need to give a brief history of the band (gigs, radio, CDs, promotion) and sum yourself up. Usually this comes to about a page and you don't need much more. No rambles on how revolutionary your music is thank you. That's what your tape/CD is for. You can use another page for some "press" quotes if any (we are in aberdeen after all) and the most crucial thing of all... your contact details. Put them wherever possible.

[ghost]

The art of a press pack in a paragraph - well said.

[soundian]

Also make sure the band name (and contact if possible) are on the CD.

Seems obvious but..

[bryn]

ok will do