Female A&R Internship London 2024

At WMG, we remain committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, across every aspect of the business. Our commitment to progress is core to supporting our community of music-makers and music-lovers at the heart of our business.

We’re in the sixth year of gender pay gap reporting and we are working hard to ensure we close this gap at senior levels, whilst investing in our future pipeline; an indicator of our future composition. That’s why we have created this six-month female A&R Internship programme….

Women are underrepresented in the music business as a whole and particularly in A&R. We recognize the value of having colleagues in A&R who are reflective of the talent we are signing: bringing different perspectives, opinions, tastes and styles of working with artists. Warner are keen to encourage more bright female talent into A&R roles and give access to a programme of proper ‘on the job’ skill learning.

At the end of this six month programme the interns will have detailed knowledge of record labels and the practical skills they need to become an A&R.

Applications close on Thursday 16th November and the in-person assessment day will be held week commencing Dec 4th, 2023.

What is A&R?

A&R is the part of the record label that is responsible for scouting new talent, introducing them to the company and closing the deal. They then assist in making a project (album, mixtape, single) by suggesting producers, songwriters and other collaborators.

Next, the A&R helps to decide on the musical rollout, which song comes when, will they do remixes or features etc?

A&R’s also oversee the recording process and assist with the marketing and promotion of the artist. They nurture and help develop the artist inside and outside the label, building relationships with a wider network to help elevate the artist.

Click here to learn more about A&R from Warner Records President, Joe Kentish.

A little bit about our participating teams

Parlophone Records is home to some of the music industry’s most loved and exciting new artists including Coldplay, Gorillaz, Ashnikko, Gabriels, Rachel Chinouriri and many more. An ambitious close-knit team who are passionate about music, developing talent and breaking artists. When Parlophone was founded in the 1920s it was said to be ‘a home for alternative minds’ which is an ethos we try to live by today – signing the most exciting alternative talent of all genres and trying to break them into the mainstream.

Atlantic Records is home to some of the most celebrated artists in the world today including Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Charli XCX, Anne-Marie, Clean Bandit, Fred again, Mahalia and many more.

Atlantic’s rich history is distinguished by an array of legendary artists who broke new ground and set new musical standards. Today it remains recognised and revered around the world as being synonymous with artistry and quality, demonstrating unrelenting passion for discovering exciting emerging artists and developing long-term careers.

Warner Records is one of the UK’s most iconic record labels with a long history within dance culture. From Dua Lipa to Griff, Pink Pantheress to Leigh-Anne, the label has deep roots within the pop music space. Warner Records has a broad catalogue of pop artists and we pride ourselves on our level of expertise, spanning the hottest breaking talent to huge international pop stars.

Your role

This internship programme will be like a month to month ‘school of A&R’. By the end of your six months, you have will learnt all the skills it takes to become an A&R person: from scouting new talent, making records in the studio, giving feedback on songs, helping choose singles, sitting in A&R meetings and delivering records. This is the opportunity to make your mark whilst working alongside some of the biggest artists in the world and developing the next wave of talent.

You will hone your own unique skillset along the way with the support of the label you will be working with. Your support network will include senior A&R people at the label including some of the most successful women in British A&R. You will also be assigned a Hiring Manager who will be responsible for your development and progress and a buddy who you can go to for candid chats and questions.

Here you’ll get to

• Learn about A&R coordination, how to write label copy and deliver a record
• Introduction to and regular liaison with artist managers/publishers/agents/lawyers
• Attend gigs of the label’s active roster and new artists we are interested in signing
• Researching and finding music trends, up and coming producers, exciting new artists
• Attend and contribute to A&R meetings
• Meet and work with mixers and master engineers
• Meet and spend time with other departments in the label to understand what they do
• Learn about the legal side of the business: deals and what they mean
• Curating remix packages for releases and exploring current catalogue opportunities

About you

• Deep love for music and passion for new music discovery
• Ambitious
• Organized
• Self-starting
• Willing to learn
• Confident and willing to take risks
• Strong music instinct
• Finger on the cultural pulse, whatever culture / world that might be

We’d love it if you also had:

• An entrepreneurial spirit – running either student radio, club nights, blogs, playlists, management or promotion
• Sense of global knowledge, what’s going on musically worldwide, from broad to niche