Articles & Advice
 Scoppa: The aspect of being an A&R person that I think makes it somewhat more tricky than any other area — is that fundamentally, you are serving two masters. It's a tightrope walk between the poles of art and commerce. That's where you find yourself every day, and it's a fairly unique set of responsibilities. Your basic passion about the idea of doing this job really has to be strong in order for you to surmount the self-questioning that takes place as you're going through the A&R process. Sometimes you've got nothing except your self-belief.
Brooks: It's a tough balance to strike. You've got two things to safeguard: the artist's vision, music and integrity; and your company and their investment. Let alone the things that go on in your own head about the way a record should go, or how the live show should be coming together, or the snare sound, or any of the other minutiae that keep you up at night.
 Barber: However, as one of my management clients used to say, in response to pressure like that, "Start your own damn band! If that means so much to you, what are you doing working for a record company? What are you doing being a manager?" You have that limitation. You can make suggestions but you can't tell them what to do. Your picture is not on the record, and you're not the one who's going to have to answer to friends, fans and other musicians as to why the record sounds the way it does. And they will.
Brooks: I've had battles with bands over, say, a certain mix ending up on a record and felt very, very, very strongly about one particular mix of one particular song being on the record. You end up saying, "Okay, I'm going to hate it if Mix 1 goes on, and my radio people are going to hate it, and I kind of think that radio is going to hate it. But this is your record, and if you're going to listen to your record and find yourself hating it, that I cannot live with." It is vital input. It's necessary. The dialogue has got to take place.
 Aberle: I had a situation with a band that I got to a third draft of a contract on. They were doing demos and felt like they were ready to go in the studio immediately, and I felt differently — I felt they had about half an album's worth of material. I told the band I felt like they needed to keep writing. They completely flew off the handle. The singer's quote to me was, "This is straight out of 'Steve Albini 101.' I sign to a major label, and you want to change my music." I, in turn, said, "The first lesson of 'Steve Albini 101' is never to sign to a major label for a lot of money. I'm not telling you to change your music or to edit a song, or to come in and do a double chorus at the end and forget about the vamp section. I'd never do that — that's not my job. But I'm always going to tell bands what I think and what I feel is right." If they don't believe in it, they don't believe in it. That's fine. But when they want a million-dollar deal, three firm and complete creative control, and they don't want to hear anything, you have to conclude that the give and take is not there.
Brooks: It's a good thing that that discussion happens — even if it is in third draft — so long as it happens before execution copies. It's to your credit that you said, "I think you need to write more songs," instead of saying, "I need to win this one. Let's do the deal." A lot of people in today's climate would just be, like, "Yeah, I signed them. I got it."
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