The music industry can be an impenetrable place for artist and producers to break into. It can often seem as through who you know is more important than your musical abilities. Media heavyweights Urban Threshold Enterprises Inc aimed to bridge the gap between artists and the industry by hosting its annual A&R Power Summit from May 2nd-3rd, 2009. As it is presently the only conference that focuses on A&R, it is one of the most vital music conferences in America.

Over the past four years, respected industry insiders such as Jeff Robinson, CEO of MBK Management, Jeff Dixon, Co-CEO of Disturbing Tha Peace, Lenny S, VP of A&R of Def Jam, and several other A&R top dogs have come through the conference to share words of wisdom with the crowd. This year’s panelists included Producer 88 Keyz, Riggs Morales, Director of A&R of Shady Records, Dre McKenzie, Director of A&R of G-Unit and many more industry professionals.

In fact, many artists and producers in attendance were able to receive direct feedback on their music packages on the spot. “The demo listening session was my favorite part of the event. I heard some really good packages including tracks from a couple of producers that I will be getting back to right away,” added Shady A&R guru Riggs Morales.

The event’s sponsors included Yo Raps.com, Digiwaxx, Specialyst Ent, Fresh Exec Entertainment, Pro Ghetto Ent., Fammly Inc., and CheckMate Ent., and yours truly, The Source Magazine.