Independent artists, producers, songwriters and managers from all over the world attended the Fourth Annual Urban Threshold A&R Power Summit on Sunday, Apr. 15th at SOB’s in NYC.
The brainchild of Jesse Atkinson, CEO of Urban Threshold Enterprises Inc., the A&R Power Summit Seminar Series has become one of the premier seminars for independent urban music artists in the country.
Now in its fourth year, the summit is still the only conference in the country that focuses on the role of the A&R.
“The mission of The A&R Power Summit series is to bridge the gap between the unsigned artist and the music industry,” Atkinson, founder of the A&R Power Summit, told AllHipHop.com. “Our main endeavor is to give talented artists and producers, who have few connections or resources, the opportunity to get their music heard and the chance to receive valuable information regarding the music business.”
The A&R Power Summit combined the elements of a music conference, an informational seminar, and an entertainment showcase into one lively event to provide an invaluable talent search resource to the music industry professionals present.
A&R representatives from the top labels came together to discuss how unsigned artists can land record deals.
“It is imperative that artists and producers know and understand the multiple revenue streams in the game,” Jeff Robinson, Alicia Key’s manager, told the audience. “You must think outside of the box and stay ahead of the new technology.”
Industry executives such as Sha Money XL, CEO of Money Management Group (Manager of Young Buck and Lloyd Banks), Jeff Robinson, CEO of MBK Management (Manager of Alicia Keys), Jeff Dixon, CO-CEO of Ludacris’ DTP Records, Riggs Morales, Director of A&R of Shady Records and others.
The sold-out A&R event was hosted by BET’S Mad Linx.
One highlight of the conference was when VIP ticket holders got the opportunity to have their music packages evaluated and critiqued by music industry professionals.
“The demo listening session was my favorite part of the event. I heard some really good packages including tracks from a couple of producers that I will be getting back to right away,” said Shady Records A&R executive Riggs Morales.
The A&R Power Summit 2007 was capped off with performances by Virgin Recording artist Sha Stimuli and indie rap group, The League.
