PROGRAM DETAILS
What is Artist Career Lab?
Artist Career Lab is an exclusive artist community that centers around mentorship and coaching to teach artists where the bar is and how to build something meaningful in 2026.
What does the A&R Bootcamp entail?
Our A&R Bootcamp is an application based specialty program to give artists access to high level in depth coaching, guidance, and A&R on their music. We are excited to partner with multi-platinum selling artist KYLE. KYLE has achieved massive commercial success with multiple hits.
Alongside KYLE, will be Artist Career Lab founder Andre Herd who prior to launching ACL was Vice President of A&R at APG & has worked on songs that have done over 4 Billion streams & 2 Grammy nominations.
What is it?
Weekly live A&R sessions with KYLE + Andre (90-min Zoom) for 6 weeks.
How does it work?
Apply (3-5 min)
If accepted, you’ll get onboarding + submission instructions
Submit music before each session → we workshop it live → you leave with clear next steps
How many artists will be in it?
We only accept 24 artists so we can spend ample time and attention on each artist.
What type of artist is this for?
For the artist who is tired of feeling like their music is good enough but they aren’t seeing any success or for the artist who wants to know exactly what it takes to make music that will move their needle forward.
When does it start?
January 22nd, 2026. Exact time announced to accepted artists.
What is the cost?
It is $1,000 for those accepted.
The Team
KYLE
Multi-Platinum Recording Artist
KYLE is a multi-platinum artist known for records:
Top 5 Hot 100 hit “iSpy” (ft. Lil Yachty)
“Playinwitme” (ft. Kehlani)
“Don’t Wanna Fall in Love”
“Hey Julie!” (ft. Lil Yachty)
ACL Founder • Former Vice President of A&R at APG
Andre Herd
Andre has worked on hit songs including:
#1 hit “Stay” Zedd (ft. Alessia Cara)
Grammy nominated “If The World Was Ending” by JP Saxe (ft. Julia Michaels).
“Numb” by XXXTentacion
As VP of A&R at APG, his department generated 1.5B+ streams, with 4B+ streams and 2 Grammy nominations across projects he’s been involved in.
What you’ll walk away with:
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You’ll walk away with a clear understanding of where your music stands in the marketplace and what you can do to improve it. You’ll learn where the high level bar is that A&Rs have and how to get there.
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You’ll learn where the highest opportunity is for your sound and what lane to double down or (or what to stop doing).
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You’ll get clear notes on your abilities as a writer and how to get better. Throughout the program you’ll improve as long as you fully participate and do the required work.
Hook/topline notes
Structure + pacing
Production + arrangement
Performance + vocal decisions
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You’ll meet and have connect with 23 other great hungry upcoming artists to collab and build with.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Each week will be a live A&R call on zoom. There are replays which will be in the program portal that you’ll have access to.
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You will get direct feedback from both KYLE & Andre. You’ll submit your music ahead of time to the online portal so we can be efficient with our time together.
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This is for artists of all levels. Artists who are serious about improving their craft and are looking for guidance and unbiased feedback on their music from top industry players.
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All genre’s are welcome. That said, to get the most out of the program, artists who are interested in commercial success and who are in or near KYLE’s lane or in the lane’s Andre has had the most success in (Alt/singer songwriter/pop/electronic).
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You’ll be able to rewatch the call in your spare time. You’ll learn from the coaching of others as well. In addition to getting your own coaching, this program is valuable through watching and hearing the feedback we give to other artists. If you apply that feedback to your own music, you’ll grow.
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No. The Accelerator is a 3 month wholistic artist development program whereas this is a 6 week deep-dive focused on the music aspect of an artists development. Of course - we naturally will talk a lot about socials and content since A&R and content go hand in hand today.
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You’ll hear back about your application within a week of applying OR within the week prior to the start date.
Have questions?
Most answers are in the FAQ above — if you still have a question, email us here.