TALES OF A TRUE A&R REP.: HOW I SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED MY OWN INDEPENDENT MUSIC CAREER
By Ace Burns
INTRODUCTION
Everyone talks about kicking the door down. They tell us, “just follow your dreams! Just go for it all!” But then, when you’ve left a professional career as an attorney, and you’ve leveraged every friend, lost every professional contact and support system, no one is ever there to help you pick up the pieces. Well that’s where my life was when I became a rapper.
And 6 months later, with a record out and a respectable amount of buzz surrounding my next release, I’m thrilled to share my blueprint.
The Delusion and the Reality of the Music Business
Be Delusional
The first thing I want all future readers to understand is that I am completely aware of how delusional it is to set a goal of becoming a successful rapper in 2020. If I were to have started this journey by setting my sights on becoming the next E-40, or Notorious B.I.G., I’d be a failure before I began. No, my delusion wasn’t that I was going to be the best lyricist, or the most creative, or even the most impressive in sales (although I’d work hard at those things too). My delusion was that, I knew how to make a hit record. I believed I knew the formula…
