Meghan Daum Quotes

I'd rather sell 10,000 records that represent me than 2 million that don't represent me at all.

I'm very serious about what I write and who I allow to produce the music, because I want to make sure it's a true album, and not just something pushed out there to create hype and more fame for myself.

As long as it feels valid to me and feels sincere, I'll do what I do under the moniker of Nine Inch Nails if it's appropriate. I would hate to think I would ever be in a position where I'm faking it to get a paycheck.

I've never put out a song that I wasn't completely proud of and that I didn't love. In that sense, I've never felt like I sold out in any way.

I just write what I write, produce the music I produce and try to give myself a chance to stay true to the art form. If you try to rein in an art form, it can be hurtful to what you are making.

I just never want to do anything that's going to compromise what I do. It would have to be a song where there would be honest discussion about something.

I don't want to release a CD; I want to release the real deal, so we're just gonna take our time.

After I got back my career and my artistic freedom in 1982, my golden rule is the music must never suffer.

If you pretend to be somebody that you're not when you write songs - and I did that on some of the early Styx albums - nobody cares about what you have to say.

I don't want to sign four films at a time, as acting is an art, and art cannot be done without honesty.

I'm not afraid of a big studio film; I trust my instincts. But for me, it's not really about box office. It's about looking back on your work and not having to apologize for it.

I am not worried about people's expectations. I just want to get the film right.

When directors tell me they want a song like one, I tell them no song should be like another. I don't listen to directors.

I really believe in not compromising your art. I feel like I've never compromised my art.

I love writing songs, but I don't want to write the songs everyone else is asking me to write.

I feel you lose your audience when you make movies for others and not for yourself or your people.

Solo, you don't have compromise. It gets back to what's great when you're a musician.

In this day and age, I really just don't want to sell people on something. I don't want to have to sell you sound. I don't like selling emotions. Or ideas. I just want to give you these ideas and inspire people.

As for my relationship to Beethoven, I admire people who can say what they really think. It's as though he's saying, 'That's how I feel about the world, and I don't care what people may say.' His music is pure and honest. Beethoven never pretends to be anybody else.

Some musicians feel they have to provide what their audiences expect. They lose the distinction between an artist and an entertainer. I am not an entertainer.

I want to be choosier. I can't let quality take a back seat... not after 'Kaaka Muttai.'

I'm not trying to appeal to anybody. I just try to do my thing and make the best music I can make.

I've never said anything that I didn't want to say on a record, ever.

We don't change with the times because we write from the heart. We don't need to change our image to sell records because that's not why we do this.

People get sucked into being so show-bizy. I mean this is show biz, but I just can't do anything that's not in my DNA.