John Niven Quotes

The Philadelphia/New York world of the music business is a tough place to be.

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.

Radio is aimed at the 30-year-old market, so you have to have great music and appeal to get that age group. And you need a record company to believe in you. It's like a bit of the perfect storm.

And you have a record company behind it, this is a key too, you need people to fight for your records, at least a little bit. So if you have a great song, it's catchy, and you've got a little bit of help, I think that's all you need. But there hasn't been that in music.

Being a recording artist, selling music, selling concerts out, having a reality show, starting film; it's great, it's beautiful.

So it was out of necessity that Blackheart was born. I think it's great that now, 25 years later, we're not only putting out our own music, but are able to put out music by other bands. That's really exciting for us.

We're thrilled to expand our relationship, knowing that with the great team at the Music Group, Word, and Warner Bros., and with their proven record of excellence, we're looking ahead to an even brighter future for Curb.

If you have good songs and a real desire to make music, the next thing to do, instead of approach record companies, is to get yourself a really good manager because then it allows you to focus on your profession of being a musician. Then they can focus on the darker art of the record label and the music industry.

I would love to continue working behind the scenes in music - to produce and manage up-and-coming musical talent would be a dream!

Shady's great; I love Shady Records.

I have always abhorred the business end of music.

I was with PolyGram; that was the big label that I was with for the longest, like 12 years.

I once worked at a record label called London Records. The company was owned by Roger Ames, one of the most successful figures in the British music industry. Roger always placed a value on loafing, on holidays, on not being in the office all the time.

If you had ever heard my album you would know that I could never consider the music business!

I never had to ask Def Jam for anything.

My A&R at Epic got fired the first week I got signed.

I'm not this bright-eyed 17-year-old that got signed to a label and is listening to all these suits tell them the best plan of action.

The music business, a lot of times, has a big finesse mentality to it.

When you're 17 and a record label says, 'Hey, do pop,' you listen.

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

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

When no one's buying your records, it's easy to justify selling a song. But once you start selling records, you can't really justify having two songs in Cadillac commercials. It looks greedy. And it is greedy. This whole music thing should be about music.

The new independent spirit at Warner Music is a perfect fit for a stand-alone label like Maverick.

I always wanted to be a part of a New York-based label, so I've worked really hard to try and network with people that I felt would put me in the right place.

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.