Struggling label EMI Music Australasia has made an interesting hire – a new head of A&R. Standing for Artist & Repertoire, in the 50s and 60s a person doing this role would liaise between songwriters and performers to schedule and release performers covering songs written by professional songwriters. In later years, they would act as talent scouts and manage a record company’s roster of artists, where they were universally referred to as ‘A&Rseholes.’ These days, they’re about as common as a VCR repairman – instead they’ve been replaced by monitoring social media and music sites, as well as record execs placing regular calls to band and venue bookers to monitor who’s popular. So it’s quite a surprise that EMI have found the money to employ a head of A&R, let alone employing hot shot producer Scott Horscroft – best known for his work at Sydney’s Big Jesus Burger studios.
Horscroft’s work there of late includes The Presets’ Apocalypso, Little Red’s Midnight Remember, and Birds of Tokyo’s eponymous album. He’s also worked with Silverchair, the Temper Trap, the Sleepy Jackson, the Panics and the Scare. The usual record company press wank from EMI says “Scott’s exceptional understanding of a great song and great talent together with a clearly successful business acumen and ability to balance artistic, commercial and consumer interests are rare to find. “This combination together with his award-winning producer and engineer skills in making great records make Scott an ideal leader for the continuing evolution of EMI as a leader in credible and successful local talent.”
EMI’s artist roster which includes Faker, Angus & Julia Stone, Chasing Bailey, Paul Kelly, Airbourne, Tina Arena, Clare Bowditch, End Of Fashion, Kasey Chambers, Neil Finn, Tim Finn, The Sleepy Jackson, Erika Heynatz and Empire of The Sun can all start wondering if they’ll get dropped to help pay Horscroft’s salary and make way for new signings.
