A&R Guidelines

Hello, Johnny Minardi from Fueled By Ramen here. My job title here at FBR is Artist & Repertoire, which is usually referred to as A&R. Part of my job description is to seek talent and help develop the artists I bring to the label roster. I wanted to give everyone, especially unsigned bands, some insight to what I look for when scouting bands to bring to Fueled By Ramen.

We get A LOT of demos. Boxes and boxes of demos get sent to the label. Make yours stand out! You should not only make it look a bit more noticeable than most but what's on the inside should be very organized. This is usually your first impression on us as a record label. Everyone says first impressions last forever so make it a good one!

Here are some tips on what information to include in your demo submission.

• CD with music (Some bands include a DVD with live footage and/or music videos)
• Tip: You should write your band name and contact information on the disc.
• Tip: Show us what you want to hear. Don't send a laundry list of changes that you'll be making to the music. Just send us the final version after all the changes are made.
• Band Photo
• One Sheet
• Band name
• Hometown
• Contact information
• MySpace URL
• Bio / band member information
• Sales history for any self-released music (full-lengths, EPs, single song sales from iTunes, etc.)
• Stats from your MySpace and Facebook pages (plays, friends, profile views, etc.)
• A few reviews from the web
• Any radio support
• Touring history (what areas you've played, what bands you've played or toured with, biggest crowds you've played for, etc.)
• Future plans for releases, recording, touring, marketing, etc.

Demos are not the only way to get our attention. The Fueled By Ramen staff is very active in the music community. We hear about bands online all the time and head out to shows when we can. We also get recommendations from our bands, booking agents, managers and friends about new bands they've played with or seen, bands they've heard online, bands they've heard are doing very well in certain markets, etc. Basically, the more you're out there touring, promoting and working hard, the more chances there are that we'll hear about it. A strong work ethic and a positive attitude will shine through.

Now you know how to submit your band to us but what does the music sound like? We have worked with a variety of different bands that sound completely different from each other. We want to work with bands we personal fall in love with. It has a lot to do with the actual songs but also the band members as people. The label has a big family vibe between the bands, staff and fans. We will never work with a band that doesn't fit into our family vibe. It's truly important on and off stage to be a true team player.

Don't flood any avenue to Fueled By Ramen with messages, emails or calls. Don't have all your friends post messages on the label staff's Twitter accounts. Don't email a staff member huge file attachments of your songs without them suggesting it first. Don't call the office promoting your band. Everyone is very busy with their respective duties and doesn't have time to hear about how many kids you played to last night. We try our best to be very available to fans and bands but this is discouraging when someone abuses it. Instead of all of that, put together a big one sheet of information that includes all the reasons you'd make a great addition to the Fueled By Ramen family!