ABSTRACT
Renowned post-punk producer/engineer and musician Steve Albino issued the following eye-opening polemic against the mainstream recording industry at a time in the early 1990s when many major labels were aggressively courting underground bands in the hopes of discovering the next Nirvana. Albino strips away the illusory trappings of financial fame to reveal the industry’s devious machinations. The article’s acerbic prose is typical of Albino’s writings and interviews, and is equally matched by the music he has released with such abrasive bands as Big Black, Rape man, and Shellac. The initials stand for “Artist and Repertoire,” because historically, the A&R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. The explanation usually copped-to is that scout will be “hip” to the musical “scene.” The band is 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the whole $14,000 on royalties.
