Most artists have contracts directly with the record company, and when they do music, all of their music is owned by the record company. But I did mine through a production company.
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.
A record deal doesn't make you an artist; you make yourself an artist.
I was an artist, I was executive producer on my first album, so I've always had to manage both. I couldn't get a record deal. It wasn't by choice - I couldn't get a record deal, so I had to figure it out.
When I first started out in the music industry and went to Elektra Records, I didn't go to be an artist, I went to get a record label started. And they said in order to have a label deal, I had to be an artist - so that's what I did.
Mostly I've never let record companies become involved with my music, which was a very smart thing that my first manager Dave Robinson did, to keep them out of it.
The record company started as an adjunct to that, to give young composers their first recorded performances; to give young musicians their first debut on a recording. These are all things that big record companies would never touch because there is no money in it!
The music business has changed incredibly. There used to be 50 record companies. Now there's only three, and it's just getting smaller and smaller. But then again, you have the Internet, so anybody who has music can get it out there.
Now the music industry is sort of like a Craigslist venture, right? Where you're making your own records and selling them online.
Musicians own music because music owns them.
There's this thing called compulsory licensing law that allows artists through the record companies to take your music at will without your permission.