by Mark E. Waterbury

Andy Karp found an early and intense love for music, enough to make him want to study instruments as diverse as piano, bass, saxophone and drums while growing up in New York. He had a goal to become a musician, took quite a few studies in music while he obtained a poly-sci degree at Connecticut College. He also thought of going into the engineering side of music, but Andy stayed pragmatic and channeled his musical passion in a different direction. "I thought about going into studio engineering while I was (also) trying to play," Andy recalls. "I realized that it was tough to make a living in New York City as an engineer, just as it is tough as a musician, and trying to do both of them was clearly not a good idea. So I wanted to get involved with a label and try a career in that direction." Andy already had an internship at the MCA publishing and A&R departments between his junior and senior years of college under his belt, where he had a good introduction to the music industry.

After he graduated from college, Andy took a music business job that was about as bottom of the ladder as you could get, working in the mailroom at Profile Records. "I just wanted a job in music, I would have done anything. My grandfather had been successful in the film industry and he had always instilled in me that you need to be smarter, more resourceful and a harder worker than everybody else to make yourself stand out. And if you're lucky to get a job in a business like this you need to show people that your are capable of greater things. But don't expect anything, you are not owed anything by anyone and things don't come to people who don't earn them." In just six weeks Andy moved up the first rung and became a gofer at Atlantic Records' radio promotion department run by Andrea Ganis. Andy learned quite a bit from Andrea and used other resources available for knowledge, and partly because of Andrea's tutelage, he rose to the level of being her assistant.

But Andy found that his passions lie more in the area of A&R than promotions, and after over four years of working radio promotion at Atlantic, he became the first actual hired employee of a new Atlantic Group label started by Jason Flom, Lava Records. Jason ran Atlantic's A&R department for several years, and Andy came to know him through his interaction with the staff in the radio promotions department. "I'm fortunate that I have a very good memory, and I've always been an obsessive music fan," notes Andy. "So I was always able to retain a lot of the kind information about records and bands that in any other business would be completely useless. But for an A&R person, it comes in handy. And I think Jason realized that I was someone who maybe could expose him to things he had not heard otherwise."

While he was in radio promotion, Andy brought Jason a band that became the subject of a gigantic bidding war, which helped to persuade him to give Andy a job as an A&R rep when he started Lava. Andy put his nose to the grindstone again working for the imprint label that had a fairly small staff. He brought into the Lava fold acts that were quite successful, including Sugar Ray, Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, The Corrs and Matchbox 20. "Our thing has always been breaking records over a long period of time. If you look at the artists we have broken over the years, none of their records went fast. And I think that's the paradigm of how labels will be forced to break records in the future." During his eight year span at Lava, Andy has risen to the position of Vice President of A&R, and the label itself has become a full-blown full standing label although they are still part of the Atlantic group. "To be in a career like this, you have to be persistent. This business is very tough to get into and there are always many more people who want to be in this business than there are room for. You'll always find someone younger who will do anything they can for less money. You need to take any kind of job you can because it's easier to get into A&R if you already have a job in the business. Just take a job to be in it and then listen as much as you can and ask as many questions as you can. And you need to trust your gut and don't let anyone convince you that something's not good if you believe in it, because chances are they are wrong."

Andy's passion and enjoyment for what he is doing is perhaps most truly exemplified by the current status of one of the bands on the Lava roster: Simple Plan. "We're at the stage where we know that the record is going to break. Everybody is really excited about it. It's a culmination of about two years of work on the part of a lot of different people. That's the fun part - when you're lucky enough to have a hit record, it's really a wonderful thing and it lifts your spirits. When you see musicians have a chance to live their dream, being able to be a part of that is a great thing."

A resurgent Kid Rock record has been a big lift for Lava and the other artists on the roster are helping to keep the label successful in what are some trying times for the industry. So Andy and his workmates are enthusiastic about the future, and he knows that he took the right career path in the music biz, even though he still likes to play music as well. "I still play as much as I can, it keeps me sane. But I pay the rent doing this and it's a great job. What I really like to do is make records, and if a different job came along in that avenue, I would have to consider it. But if it took me too far away from the creative aspects, which is what I have been doing and is my strongest suit, I don't know if I would take it. I see our creative visions through here, and the aspects I control are fortunately the thing I am best at, and that is making good records."

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Andy Karp's advice for musicians:
"I've done a lot of A&R panels and lectures over the years about this exact thing, and it seems to me that the most commonly asked question is "How do I get a record deal?" And I always tell artists that they are asking the wrong question. You should never make getting a record deal the focus of your career. What people should be asking instead is, "How do I make a living as a musician?" Getting a record deal is not that hard, but record deals are a very fleeting thing. The vast majority of artists eventually get dropped by their labels. So you need to know how to create an environment as a musician to create a long career. You'd be much more sensible and realistic to have getting a record deal as only part of the pie. You need to build up as much as you can outside the record deal, and tap into all of the avenues available including publishing, performance royalties, sync fees...there are lots of ways to make money in this business. And if you have all of these in place you will be in a much better position to get a better and smarter record deal, and be in a better position to make a living as a musician if and when you get dropped."