Record contracts are just like - I'm gonna say the word - slavery. I would tell any young artist... don't sign.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I had a very unusual contract. Most artists actually pay for their record dates and it comes out of their royalties. I paid for nothing.
In this age when people expect to get their music for free, we have to work out how we can protect the rights of creative artists so they are compensated fairly and that the record business itself remains sound and healthy.
A lot of record company people, even though they're our age, want to be perceived as young hip guys, and they're hurting the business.
At the end of the day, if you don't have a record contract, a studio or a guitar, you can still write songs. You're still an artist. That's something no one can take away.
One of the biggest wake-up calls of my career was when I saw a record contract. I said, 'Wait - you sell it for $18.98 and I make 80 cents? And I have to pay you back the money you lent me to make it and then you own it?'
I never sought out a record deal. It caught me with my pants down. I was just a musician doing my thing, I didn't even send my records out.
I had this contract to write songs for people when I was about 18. I don't think any of them were taken up; I was a complete failure at it! But I've kept doing it, writing little songs for myself.
I suspect that we might actually start selling some records with these artists in about 10 years. Some the people who invested, they're a little tight-because it's a lot of money to start up a company.
That's my favorite subject because it really levels the playing field for artists these days. You don't have to sell out to the record company. You don't have to get a five hundred thousand dollars, or whatever, and pay them back for the rest of your life to record a record.
A record deal doesn't make you an artist; you make yourself an artist.