Lucy Dacus Quotes

There are people that bring artists to me to look at it and it's a question of whether I like their music and their look and if I think there's something they have that makes them different and commercial.

Artist development is something that I've been passionate about from my days at Uptown and Motown Records.

There are certainly things labels can still provide that indie artists can't. They can pave the way to radio and pay big bucks for promotion.

I never do releases to try and make or break some contemporary band.

There are people who are genetically made to start record labels, and I'm not one of those people. People just have it in their blood and are good at it. Corey Rusk from Touch and Go and Ian MacKaye. These are people who have made their own labels.

It's frustrating to do albums that you think are worth listening to, but it's just so difficult to cut through.

I have taken taking my music to labels for years, and everyone just thought it was creepy. They thought the images with the music were weird and verging on psychotic.

Equal Vision seems to be doing really well. A lot of these major labels are just imploding and becoming indie labels, anyway.

It used to be that labels would spend two or three or four albums developing a new artist before they threw in the towel and moved on, which kind of gave the artist an opportunity to grow.

I have friends that are reps and run labels, but I don't like to get into that world. I just like to pick what I like with my ears and play it for no other reason, not because of the label or the rep.

Technology is going to play a huge part in tomorrow's music business. And the companies that will win are going to be the most equipped to understand how to use data to further an artist's career.

I completely understand why labels would be a little bit hesitant to sign somebody coming off of a television show, in their first glance.

A lot of big labels will just sign bands like a write off.

Back in the '90s, if you did mail order in music, you could make a good living doing it if you could hustle.

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.

The record business has always mystified me. Sometimes there are reasons why things sell or don't sell that can't be understood by mere mortals.

I hate the industry even more now, no bands get nurtured anymore. Labels only spend money promoting acts they know will be Top Ten. I find it offensive spending $2 million on a video.

As for the music business itself, the key things have not changed that much. It operates like any business and money still keeps things moving.

In a sense, the music business and I haven't always been the best of bedfellows. Artists often have to fight their corner. Your music goes through these filters of record labels and media, and you're hoping you'll find someone who'll help you get your work into the world.

This is a very screwed-up business. Record labels don't sign a lot of bands these days. We just want to find a home and stay there and make records and do our thing and not have to look over our shoulder.

I don't spend much time listening to the records when they're done. Usually I let go of it. Especially in the Eighties and Nineties - they were like product, almost.

The music industry is saying, This is the format, and if you'll fit into this format, you can be on radio, and if radio will play you, MTV will expose you, and MTV will expose you, we'll sell records.

I don't believe in the philosophy of stumbling across hit records.

Recorded music is more a marketing tool than a revenue source.

We've managed to have a long career that is still quite vibrant, yet we've never had to kow-tow to record companies who said we weren't commercial enough.