Music Business Quotes

The people on the business side in the music business are kind of different from the theatre business. I think it's partly because there are different pressures on the industries. ~ Tim Curry

I'm meeting a lot of musicians and people in the music business, and am constantly trying to figure out what I want to do with music. We'll see. I want to do everything. ~ Tyler Posey

You know how it is with drawers and labels in the music business. They don't want anything to be complicated. They just want it simple, as simple as possible. ~ Mark McGrath

In the music business, to survive for so long, you have to be able to cut off from your emotions sometimes. And being a father, you're faced with that situation. I know that my father was, with me. I understand why he had to be distant, because to rip yourself away, time after time, is almost more devastating. ~ Rufus Wainwright

Some artists are told what to like and told definitions of what the music business is. That's a problem. Music is artistry, and you want your music heard, your act known. But artists don't know. They are ignorant the minute they sign a contract. ~ Chuck D

In the music business I am surrounded by people who don't view music as a sacred voice. They view music as something that they can use and exploit, often times lazily. They have no sense of the tradition, they have no sense of honor about those who came before and charted the path. ~ Billy Corgan

Things can turn ugly so quickly in the music business, especially if you have an unexpected success. ~ Dean Wareham

This rise of the new global mega-rich is happening as established institutions are falling. The fall runs the gamut from the music business and traditional media to the Detroit automakers who find themselves obsolete, outmaneuvered, and out-priced by entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, Mumbai, Shanghai, and even Siberia. ~ Robert Kiyosaki

I think the Ambitious Lovers never got their due- we had terrible management and at that point, we were on major labels and we didn't have any music business savvy which we could have used. We made a series of hilarious mistakes not in terms of music but in terms of making it happen. ~ Arto Lindsay

You can do any number of things in the music business aside from trying to look like you're 25. To me it's embarrassing. ~ Grace Slick

The music business used to carry a certain amount of brotherly love, but it isn't that way now. ~ Jimmy Rushing

I needed a break, and going to culinary school turned a lightbulb on that I didn't have to make music. The people in the music business forget that not only is there an entire world of people out there who do not care what we do, we are not creating the wheel. ~ Kelis

I never really expected any of the music business to happen, but I'm glad it did. It was a very cool thing to happen. It was a hobby for me. I used to do it to meet girls. If you had long hair and could play a guitar then you got girls. That's how I started. Then I fell in love with the music and got carried away. ~ John Martyn

People are people, and I get a bit annoyed that the music business only focuses in on the big metropolises. I find that people that don't live in big cities are just as likely to enjoy music as people that do live in big cities. ~ Eddi Reader

Somebody asked me the question not too long ago: 'Dave, do you think the music business has turned corrupt'. I said: 'Absolutely not - it has always been corrupt. ~ David Lee Roth

Miley Cyrus, like all of us, needs to be loved. We all come from complicated parents ... I understand her, and I love her, and I think things will be different with her. But you know, in the music business, sometimes you have to shock a little. ~ Richard Simmons

As an improvising musician, I am not in the music business, I am not in the creativity business; I am in the surrender business. ~ Stephen Nachmanovitch

When I first started recording, I was told by all of the experts in the business that the kind of music that I was doing was never going to sell. That disco was the coming thing and it was going to take over and what I was interested in was a minor sideline. ~ Tom Scholz

The music business can be very cold. And it doesn't honor its elders. ~ Brenda Lee

It's time to respect yourself and your dream, both truly deserve that respect. be the person you would do anything for. Be the person you will not let down. ~ Loren Weisman

Singers come and go; the music business waxes and wanes. The blues are popular and unpopular, often at the same time. ~ Linda Barnes

Without a doubt, because now in the music business talent and hard work isn't enough. There is just a lot of luck and marketing money involved in making any artist break. "Fall Down" is about a relationship, but you could certainly apply it to the relationship we've had with each other and throughout our career. ~ Jason C. Miller

The music business is really, really small. The real music is becoming almost extinct, if you don't stay true to who you are. ~ Mary J. Blige

I think the music business is probably not happy with what we've done, because the people buying the record have actually got to pick what they want to buy, rather than being told what they should buy. ~ John Otway

Music can be so disturbing and frustrating. I mean the business side of it. The actual making music part is fun, but the business side of it is just so out of control, has nothing to do with anything. ~ Dweezil Zappa

The music business is strictly business. ~ Kenny Rogers

It's true that I tend to daydream. I'm the same person in business as I am in music: I can be distracted and absentminded. It's my style. ~ Gordon Getty

It will be only a matter of time before the music business establishment completely folds. ~ Thom Yorke

Sometimes, I think the way the music business has been destructive and the way the fans are been put through it and try to navigate through it, so much is so foreign to what musicians would actually want to do or what would be natural to them. ~ Beck

[Commercial radio] is owned by one or two corporations now, and they're not in the music business. They're in the advertising business ... So let's not kid ourselves. If you want to hear music, go buy a guitar. ~ Elvis Costello

In the music business, we all do different things, but we sit there and admire other people who can write a song differently or sing differently. It's not so competitive. ~ Barbra Streisand

The whole music business in the United States is based on numbers, based on unit sales and not on quality. It's not based on beauty, it's based on hype and it's based on cocaine. It's based on giving presents of large packages of dollars to play records on the air. ~ Frank Zappa

When you are a journalist in the music business, as I was, you end up dying or going to the gym - I chose the gym. ~ Tony Parsons

I just had to find all my friends that used to be in the business. As I say, the music business didn't die, it just moved to Nashville. ~ Lionel Richie

The Parisian has his amusements as regularly as his meals, the theatre, music, the dance, a walk in the Tuilleries, a refection in the cafe, to which ladies resort as commonly as the other sex. Perpetual business, perpetual labor, is a thing of which he seems to have no idea. ~ William Cullen Bryant

We were friends for a year before we started playing music together. We both think it's pretty important. Tyler's my friend before he's a guy in my band, and when we talk to each other about things, it comes from a friend standpoint, not just a business standpoint. ~ Josh Dun

When I was a kid, a lot of my parents' friends were in the music business. In the late '60s and early '70s - all the way through the '70s, actually - a lot of the bands that were around had kids at a very young age. So they were all working on that concept way early on. And I figured if they can do it, I could do it, too. ~ Slash

I dabbled a little bit in the whole music thing but I've always thought about Bernie Taupin, who is Elton John's lyricist; Elton John is the great melody and song writer but Bernie Taupin is the one who writes all the lyrics. I don't write lyrics, and I never wanted to be in the music business if I was just going to be a puppet in it. ~ Carmen Ejogo

Being in the music business is a totally different industry right there. ~ Christina Milian

Trust in the music business is a hard thing to earn and keep. ~ Jonathan Burkett

Being in the music business requires having a very strong resolve. You must be completely committed to the craziness that will inevitably ensue when pursing a career in music. There is no one who is immune to this. Not even the biggest music icons. ~ Wendy Starland

I'm feeling like the music business is reaping what it's sown. It's going through what inevitably it was going to go through. It was a very decadent, very glamorous business that took advantage of a lot of people for a long time and didn't do things right and had a poor business model. ~ Adam Levine

Music is what I must do, business is what I need to do and politics is what I have to do. ~ Bob Geldof

I am involved in the creation of software, and I'm also in the music business. ~ Frederick Lenz

The Beach Boys have always been a part of the '60s spectrum, with The Beatles and that kind of thing. They were a part of the music business like everyone else. And they did quite well as a singing group, and I finished a lot of good records, and I'm very proud of them. ~ Brian Wilson

I've wanted to be Mick Jagger since I was 18. One of the things I love about music is that you don't have to be dependent on other people like you are in the film business. I hate being dependent on anyone. With my music, I can do whatever I want. I also think it's made me more relaxed as an actress. ~ Emmanuelle Seigner

The kids of today have taken over the music business - most of them very young. Simply because they write and jot down a few notes, they have the idea that they can write songs. ~ Rudy Vallee

When I was 20, I thought anyone in the music business over 25 is past it. Then at 30, you think anyone still doing it at 35 is ridiculous. Suddenly, you find yourself at 48 and still doing it, so I don't know what to say, really. ~ Vince Clarke

A woman's two cents worth is worth two cents in the music business. ~ Loretta Lynn

Nashville was totally different than I ever dreamed. I had only seen the music business on television and been to a couple of concerts. I had no clue. ~ Faith Hill

I'd say we [Apple Inc.] are the most creative of the technology companies and definitely the most artist-friendly. Almost everyone in the music business uses a Mac and everyone has an iPod. ~ Steve Jobs

If the milk industry can make their product seem sexy and increase consumer demand, there must be hope for music. ~ Gary Arnold

I think that if people realize that with an mp3, you're only getting five percent of the sound that's there. But when you hear the entire thing ... I think it would save the music business. It's such a drastic change. ~ Tom Petty

Pop music I have always loved best. But the more extreme, fascist-led examples of the music business I tend to detest the most. ~ John Lydon

«Eliza opened her furry black satchel. She pulled out a portable CD player. "Gav, look here. Once, I loved this machine. Because it plays all my CDs. But nobody buys music in the stores any more! Even I don't pay for music, and I'm rich! I'm carrying a zombie in my purse!"
"Well, yes, that platform is obsolete now, but a new business model will arise for music."
"No it won't! That's a lie! Nobody will ever pay! The music business is the walking dead! Don't lie to me." Eliza stuffed her doomed device back in her furry purse.
Gavin rubbed his chin. "Your Digital Native generation really has some issues."» ~ Bruce Sterling

I think no matter how you think about your music, you're ultimately in the music 'business.' I think you have to be business-minded in some sense. And for me, the real goal ... is positive intention and social change through music. It doesn't mean that can't turn a profit. ~ Mary Lambert

Obviously, as the music business has suffered tremendously, with being able to illegally download everything, it's also become amazingly easy to find new bands, because everyone can put their stuff online. Even if you can't find a record label, you can find these awesome bands, all over the world. ~ Jorma Taccone

My mom nor my father never pushed me into the music business. I always did it because I wanted to. ~ Hank Williams III

I definitely want my career to continue to branch out. I've had the pleasure of working in different areas of entertainment, from being in the music business as a teenager in a girl group to doing Broadway. ~ Naturi Naughton

I couldn't concentrate on music. So I made the choice to give up my career as a musician in the frontline to deal with the business. ~ Robert Fripp

I'd fired anyone who was involved with Creed. I didn't want anything to do with the music business. The entire press and industry hated me, so what was the point? ~ Scott Stapp

I don't even know what words to use to talk about the music industry anymore. But the business has changed a lot - the methods of releasing music. ~ Anthony Kiedis

There just is exponentially more money in the movie business than in the music business. As a result there are more people involved in the creative process. ~ Adam Duritz

Nothing will prepare you for singing the truth like about 35 years in the music business, financial troubles and a couple trips to jail, ... It will get you really humble and really truthful, and gets you ready to sing out about who and what saved you. ~ Marty Stuart

Music is the one part of the entertainment business where you can't fool anybody into buying a record. ~ Nile Rodgers

The people who blame everything and every body else for their lack of success, tended to continue to have a lack of success.
Your Proactive, problem solving minded, assertive and responsible approach is going to carry you much further than whining, blaming, pointing fingers and justifying your failures. ~ Loren Weisman

I wish there had been a music business 101 course I could have taken. ~ Kurt Cobain

The difference between me and other people in my generation is instead of saying the Internet's killing the record business, I say, 'Who cares about the record business, the Internet is enhancing music.' ~ Daryl Hall

I've always treated the music business as a business. ~ Simon Cowell

The business has changed so much that they're able - we're able these days in the music industry to be able to control our own destiny. ~ Bobby Brown

The music business is a weird business. Sometimes licensing doesn't happen because some business component that you never knew about stops it. ~ Ben Folds

I was tossed all over the place growing up, which I guess prepared me for the music business, but the one thing that has always been there, that has never ever left me, has been country music. ~ Kellie Pickler

I suppose that by being absent from the music business, it appeared that I just dropped out, but really I never did. I was continuously working and doing various things. ~ Cat Stevens

I have major respect for Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood and Sugarland. They are wonderful. They're superstars in the music business. ~ Darius Rucker

Commercial to the core, Elvis was the kind of singer dear to the heart of the music business. For him to sing a song was to sell asong. His G clef was a dollar sign. ~ Albert Goldman

When I first started getting into the business, a young woman in a music game that was mostly men, I did feel inadequate. ~ Alicia Keys

Our house is a constant mayhem of music, noise, socializing and business. It vibrates life, as a house should. ~ Dan Hill

When the music business failed to embrace the Internet, I thought it was game, set and match for the industry, and I quit. ~ Tony Fernandes

I'm a good listener, you know. My gran used to say that's why you've got two ears and one mouth. I just truly love what I do and treat it with a lot of respect and all these relationships in the music business that people talk about. ~ Johnny Reid

Time and persistence has shown me that I can succeed at sharing my art with others as a musician while running my own music business. And that kind of success is as good as I could have ever wished for. ~ Bradley Joseph

When I was 17-years-old, I was in the music business. ~ Scott Caan

I am in a business that's built on record sales and reputation and how your single is doing and where your song is on iTunes. But the kind of music that I do comes from my beliefs. ~ Steven Curtis Chapman

I'm not really interested in participating in mainstream culture. Participating in the mainstream music business is, to me, like getting involved in a racket. There's no way you can get involved in a racket and not someway be filthied by it. ~ Steve Albini

I'm less concerned with how hard you can work and how much time and effort you can dedicate to a project when everything is going right.
Plenty of people can do that.
I'm more concerned with how hard you can work and how much time and effort you can dedicate to a project when everything is going wrong.
That's a rarity and shows true honor, true character and will lead you that much closer to success. ~ Loren Weisman

Music is spiritual. The music business is not. ~ Van Morrison

Independent labels take nothing and make something out of it. Major labels buy that something, and try to make more out of it. ~ Tom Silverman

The business of music. You know, it's an oxymoron in a sense. It's like the two things. Although we both need each other, they really don't go together. ~ Kelis

I still like to play the guitar, but I rarely have anything to do with the music business these days. I mean, there is no music business anymore, is there? ~ Steve Jones

I hate to say this, but at the time, (late 70's) it was like the smart people liked punk and the dumb people liked Journey. ~ Howie Klein

The music business looks like, you know, innocent schoolboys compared to the TV business. They care about nothing but profit. ~ Tom Petty

I love what I do. I made my first record in '57. I don't think I'll ever get tired of making records and writing songs and singing and being in the music business. ~ Ray Stevens

It's a small percentile of people who see one dime out of the music business. ~ Chad Kroeger

When I was touring and spending so much time on the bus, I realized that I actually knew very little about the industry that I'm in so I set out to educate myself on the music business. ~ Ty Herndon

I started making music for fun, but I had two parents who were very much in the business. I didn't run around trying to get the spotlight. I was very shy. I never sang in front of people 'til I was about 17 years old. ~ Caitlin Rose

The words of the Quran all seemed strangely familiar yet so unlike anything I had ever read before,' he told us. He embraced Islam in 1977, and changed his name to Yusuf, the Arabic for Joseph. 'I identified with the story of Joseph in the Quran,' he said. 'His brothers sold him like goods in the market place.' Yusuf felt the music business had treated him not like an artist but as a commodity. ~ Kristiane Backer

In Los Angeles, they don't want you to fail, they want you to die. ~ David Geffen

What happens in the music business is that if you step out of your little spot to do something else, the sand falls right into where you stood and you're gone, you're history. ~ Nancy Sinatra

Never compromise and sell yourself short. I've been in the music business, a girl group ... I've been through so many different things in my career, and when you compromise and try to let go of who you are, you wind up being unhappy, and what is success without happiness. You have to have both, and that is important to me. ~ Naturi Naughton

I don't live in as much fear as I used to. I'm not afraid of the music business. Life is too damn short. I know what's important, and the tasks are very clear. ~ Kathy Mattea

Mentorship is really important. I really like to talk to people who have been in the music industry much longer than me about artists' block, things I'm struggling with, or the music business. It's really important for artists to have a community. Sometimes you can feel quite isolated. ~ Bat For Lashes