With support of Creative Community Singapore, we are coming together to organize the very 1st National Inter-school competition-ARC (artists and repertories challenge).This competition is open to all Ministry Of Education students from secondary to university. We strongly believe that through this competition, the participants will gain valuable insight, experience and knowledge that will benefit them well in the future as professional coaching will be given to them.

The Artistes and Repertoire Challenge (ARC) project proposes to groom Artistes and Repertoires talents for the music recording industry, as well as to raise awareness for the various supporting creative industries such as recording engineering, music arranging, artiste management, hairstyling, fashion, marketing, designing, etc. “Artistes and Repertoires” (A&R) is essentially the research and development (R&D) arm for a record company.

In addition to being a talent scout, the A&R person is also the crucial link to getting the music record made and completed, choosing the songs among the repertoire, helping to decide whether an artiste is going to do a cover, which producers the artiste is going to work, finding people to play on the album (background musicians, collaborators, etc.) and so on.

During the challenge, each team member will be assigned a specific role in A&R, and will undergo mentorship with industry professionals to learn the art of the trade. After the training, the team will have to complete different tasks such as talent scouting and grooming their artiste, and produce and promote the artiste’s album. Based on their performance in these tasks, five teams will be selected to go into the Grand Finals. This is where teams need to promote their artiste in a concert setting, as well as showcase their individual works.

Winning individuals will be drawn from the different trades and will be awarded a one-year contract to work with an A&R team to produce and market an album. The winners will also have the opportunity to travel overseas as part of their prize. On top of getting a real taste of the industry, the winners will also become mentors to the next batch of contestants in the following year’s challenge.

It is thus a useful and innovative platform that allows youths to explore and realise their dreams in music recording industry, while at the same time, developing potential creative entrepreneurs and mentors who can contribute their experience and skills beyond the boundaries of the challenge.