Kirk Hammett Quotes

The possibilities are endless now, with performing, getting your music online, getting your own website and getting your music out there. I think that's very cool and amazing.

Back in the day people made music to go on tour. They didn't make music to make a video.

Since the traditional recorded-music business models have drastically changed, there is truly diminished income derived from recorded music by artists - both current and catalog. The touring industry has become much more important as a majority revenue stream and the ancillary fan experiences and promotions that may be derived from it.

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.

If your music is great, you will have fans, not because you have spent time chatting on social media.

When you don't have a record label and you have been on your own as we have, you can look at all these other ways you can get in touch with other people and get music out there again.

I think another thing is that we don't really want exclusivity. We accept that it is in the artist's interest to be on sale in every place where they sell music.

The desire to hit a big home run is dominating the music business.

The music business doesn't take up that much of my time. I probably should put a little more energy into it.

YouTube provides a unique opportunity for all musicians to market and promote their music and directly engage their fans.

Music companies and buyers are not too encouraging towards independent musicians. Everyone wants to play safe and go with established names, but unless one breaks this routine, no new talent will come and survive.

The music business doesn't interest me anymore.

But anyone who knows anything about the music industry knows it's not only about the music.

The music industry is a strange combination of having real and intangible assets: pop bands are brand names in themselves, and at a given stage in their careers their name alone can practically gaurantee hit records.

The music business is one of a few places where everything you've heard about it seems entirely cliche, but it's true.

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.

People are doing what they can these days and looking for creative ways to sell music.

I want to build a fanbase. I want people to like my albums even more so than singles.

The traditional model for selling an album isn't the only way of doing things.

I was always putting songs on the Internet, but I was never into pushing them on anyone.

That's my dream job, to be able to mail songs out to people who want to hear them. Paste my face on them and not travel all over the world trying to sell them.

I've been doing my record label for 15 years called Dim Mak. I started my label when I was 19 in '96. I started putting out an eclectic roster of artists. In 2003, we found a band called Bloc Party, and in 2004, we started getting remixes for Bloc Party, and at the same time I was throwing Dim Mak parties in Los Angeles.

When Pandora doesn't pay, and bars don't pay, and weddings don't pay, and nobody buys CDs or shirts or concert tickets or lessons, then the musician can't make a living making music.

Also there's two sides of it, I mean, a band like us, at our level and the way we have to promote ourselves and usually radio just completely turns their back on us, at the same time I think Mp3s help promote us somewhat, spreading the word about the album and stuff.

You don't sell as many records as you used to because of illegal downloads, but I think there are other ways you can make money through your music. Whether it's through merchandise or teaming up with other companies or brands or whatever, there are ways.