Steve Albini Quotes

I had to get out of my record deal that I signed with my previous band and get a full solo record deal going so, with all of the paperwork that, that entails it did take a while.

Doing things in my day was simple: you either signed to a big label or you signed to a very small label, and you worked with that one, and then they eventually signed you on to a big one.

The first time Kyuss was about to get signed, they're like, 'We'd like to sign you!' and we just said, 'No! Forget it!' because we thought people were always trying to invade everything.

Now record companies are run by lawyers and accountants. The shift from the one to the other was definitely related to when the takes started to get big.

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

If the label presents them with a contract that the band don't want to sign, all the label has to do is wait. There are a hundred other bands willing to sign the exact same contract, so the label is in a position of strength.

You rarely get money out of labels, except for when they open up a budget for a project. Other than that, it's a do-or-die type thing.

For new bands, I think a major label is the safest place to be. Independent labels are the ones getting away with murder. A lot of them are hobbyists who rip-off young bands, taking advantage of people who would never get signed to a major.

Actually, I have another record I made with them in 1976, but I've had such a bad experience with record companies, because I keep my head so much in music and not in business.

If you wanna make money in music, you're better off being on the business end of it a lot of the time. And also as a musician, if you do make money, it means you had to bite and scratch and kick the whole way to not get ripped off, because at every corner, there's somebody there waiting to trip you up and take a bigger chunk.

For the longest time, I was uninterested in dealing with EMI Records.

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.

I'm the only artist who got paid by Puff, like really, really, paid.

If we meet some people that are in love with NFG that are a major label, then we'll sign with them. If we meet people that are in love with NFG that are an independent label - and they have a plan - well, then we'll sign to them. It's completely up to us.

I think, actually, I was the first person to ever sign a simultaneous video and recording deal with a record company.

My strongest message is: 'Never give your songs away. Never sign a contract you can't get out of.'

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

One of the reasons I started Tzadik, which is my own label, is to keep things in print. I got tired of labels dropping things out of print when they don't sell.

I never, ever had it in my mind that I wanted to be in the record industry, because I still contend that the record industry is an insidious affair. It's this terrible collision between art and commerce, and it will always be that way.

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.

If you are a musician and you don't show any interest on the business level then you are actually vulnerable and people will rip you off. They will sweet talk you into anything.

I'm really happy with Elektra, I don't have anything bad to say about them at all. I always knew a major label was the right place for me to be. I never really had an opportunity to go to an independent label anyway.

To the extent that '60s guys own things, yes... but I don't have the publishing, just like most '60s guys, and that was an error, you know... part ownership in publishing was the kind of era that started a little bit later, when real businessmen started to manage artists.

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.

We turned what is virtually a glorified independent label into one of the powerhouse labels in the town.