HitQuarters was an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It was noted for its in-depth interviews with industry figures, as well as its A&R and manager contact directory, free artist promo pages and song sale facility, demo reviews and A&R chart,
["A&R Star Makers: The Vanishing Gatekeepers"](_blank)
''LA Weekly'', 11 February 2010. and was the sister site to the songwriting tip sheet SongQuarters. The site was sporadically active from May 2017 up until September 20, 2020, and no posts have been made on its Twitter and Facebook accounts since March and May 2015 respectively.
Focus on aiding unsigned and independent artists
The website had a strong focus on offering unsigned and independent artists, songwriters and producers with tools to help develop their music careers, whether through attracting the attentions of record label A&R and management, pitching songs and tracks, releasing and marketing music independently, or just learning more about how the music industry works.
To this aim the website featured an extensive contact database known as HitTracker, where users could find contact information for A&R, publishers, managers, producers and songwriters based on their track records, a news bulletin service, free artist promo pages, demo review feature judged by A&Rs, producers and managers, and an archive of several hundred interviews with industry figures that were geared towards offering constructive career advice and industry know-how.
''Sound On Sound'', November 2000.
Members of HitQuarters that had gone on to find success include
Christelle,
The Knife,
Dominique Young Unique
Dominique Lashawn Clark (born March 15, 1991), better known by her stage name Dominique Young Unique, is an American rapper and model. In 2012, Clark signed to Sony Records, a contract which ended in 2014. Dominique is currently signed to The H ...
,
Bobby Creekwater
Antoine Raimon Rogers, better known by his stage name Bobby Creekwater, is an American rapper from Atlanta who is a former member of Shady Records. ,
Lesley Roy
Lesley Roy (born 17 September 1986) is an Irish singer-songwriter from Balbriggan, County Dublin Ireland. Roy was signed to an independent Irish label in 2006 followed by a record deal with US label Jive Records. She released her debut album '' ...
and
State of Shock.
Interviews and features
One of HitQuarters' most prominent features was its weekly in-depth interviews with major industry figures such as
A&Rs, producers, managers, songwriters, promoters and publishers. Interviewees included pop impresario and entertainment mogul
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
, industry executives and A&R
Martin Kierszenbaum
Martin Kierszenbaum, also known by his pseudonym Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, is an American music personality. As a songwriter and producer he worked with Lady Gaga, Sting, Madonna, Mylène Farmer, Keane, Tokio Hotel, Far East Movement, Robyn, Fe ...
,
Mike Caren
Michael Caren is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher, A&R representative, and music executive. He is the current CEO (and founder) of Artist Partner Group and Creative Officer at Warner Music Group. He is also the founder o ...
,
Jason Flom
Jason Flom (born c. 1961) is an American music industry executive, podcaster and philanthropist. He is the founder of Lava Records, and was previously the chairman of Atlantic Records and Virgin Records/Capitol Music Group. He is also an advocate ...
,
Peter Edge
Peter Edge is an English-American record executive. He is the chairman and CEO of RCA Records.
Early life and education
Edge was born near Coventry, England. Fueled in part by his sister’s record collection – which included influential ...
,
Chris Hicks,
Richard Russell,
Miles Leonard
Miles Leonard is a British music industry executive and co-founder of NFT marketplace, Token, , Traxx. Leonard was previously Chairman of Parlophone & Warner Bros. Records UK. He has worked for Virgin Records, EMI Records, Roadrunner Records and ...
and
Ron Fair
Ronald Fair is an American A&R executive, record producer, record executive, musical arranger, recording engineer and conductor. In a career that has spanned over 30 years at major record labels he has produced and arranged hits for several ar ...
, managers
Jonathan Dickins,
Dumi,
Louis Walsh
Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later be ...
and Eric Härle, songwriters
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award.
Wa ...
,
Wayne Hector
Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including "World of O ...
,
Rami Yacoub
Rami Yacoub (born 17 January 1975), also known by the mononym Rami, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter and former member of the songwriting/production houses Cheiron Studios and Maratone. Yacoub collaborated extensively with Max Martin ...
and
Andreas Carlsson
Andreas Carlsson (; born 3 April 1973) is a Swedish music producer and pop songwriter.
Biography
Carlsson was part of the Cheiron Studios team until the studio was closed down in 2000. In January 2001, former Cheiron-members Andreas Carlsson, K ...
, producers
RedOne,
Chris Braide
Christopher Braide (born 1973) is an English songwriter, record producer and singer, formerly based in Malibu, Los Angeles, California, United States. Braide is known for being a pianist.
First signed as a solo artist by David A. Stewart in t ...
,
Steve Mac,
JR Rotem
Jonathan Reuven Rotem is a South African-born record producer, songwriter and music publisher.
Biography
Early life
Rotem was born in South Africa to Jewish Israeli immigrant parents. He moved to Canada at the age of two and to Moraga, Cal ...
,
Richard X
Richard Philips, better known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for arti ...
and
Phil Ek
Phil Ek is an American record producer, engineer and mixer. Ek began his career in Seattle, Washington in the early 1990s recording live sound in clubs. He then moved into studio recording, recording small projects and demos for local bands. Aroun ...
, and songwriter, producer and A&R
Linda Perry
Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for ...
.
The website also ran a regular demo review feature where a changing panel of industry experts reviewed songs uploaded to the site by unsigned artists, assessing their hit potential and offering advice on how the tracks can be improved. Judges included
Visible Noise
Visible Noise is a British independent record label that focuses solely on British bands.
History
Founded in 1998 by ex-Cacophonous Records manager Julie Weir, the label was created with the goal of fostering and breaking new UK rock music into ...
CEO Julie Weir, and producers
Colin Richardson
Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres.
Career
Some of the bands he has worked for include:
* 3 In ...
and Eddie Galan and producer and publisher
Steve "Blast" Wills.
A&R chart
HitQuarters founded the world's first A&R chart that measured the success of individual A&R representatives based on points accumulated from their respective artists' chart success. Most notably, 2004 saw Wind-Up Records'
Diana Meltzer become the first woman to top HitQuarters' World Top 100 A&R Chart,
["Women in music industry...kind of"](_blank)
, ''Feministing.com'', 12 April 2004. a considerable achievement in what is traditionally a male dominated field.
'' Billboard (magazine), Billboard'', 19 Jul 2003.Where are the female A&Rs?
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 23 July 2009. Previous number 1s included Clive Davis
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000.
From 1967 to 1 ...
, Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American music executive, producer and author. Mottola is currently the Chairman of Mottola Media Group and was previously the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columb ...
, Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...
, and Mark Williams.
SongQuarters
HitQuarters was a companion site to SongQuarters, an online tip sheet
A tip sheet is a publication containing the latest information, tips or predictions for a particular industry. Tip sheets are commonly published to impart business or stock market information, music industry songwriter leads, and tips on horse rac ...
for "songwriting leads to major and developing artists". It shares the same contact directory as HitQuarters and its members automatically had access to the HitQuarters site. It was also a subscription-based service with 7-day trials available for those wanting to try it out first. The songwriting leads were split into three categories according to the level of the artist they relate to: 'Top 500', 'Newly Signed and Developing' and 'Unsigned and Up-and-coming'.
References
{{reflist
External links
Official HitQuarters Facebook page, no posts since May 2015
Official Twitter, no posts since March 2015
Internet properties established in 1999
Online music stores of the United States
1999 establishments in the United States