Queen Latifah Quotes

With Pavement, we had no managers and never had a lawyer. We got lucky with not signing any bad deals.

Every musician in the known universe has signed a bad piece of paper, myself included. But it's really very simple. You're the artist. It's your picture that's going on the CD cover, nobody else's. Protect yourself. Get a good lawyer. You'll kick yourself later if you don't.

Labels fund things and have resources for you to use. But just because you sign doesn't mean you sign yourself away so they can then tell you what to do. You need to have a plan yourself before they do.

I had knockback after knockback before I got anywhere. After I got my first record deal I thought that was it, then Gut Records went into liquidation. I was 20. I had no idea what that meant. I had a few days to get myself out of that contract or my work would be owned by someone else.

Being a professional musician doesn't mean you spend 12 hours a day playing music. It means you spend up to 12 hours a day taking care of business, dealing with litigation, with the various characters who've stolen your interests, or fending off hostile lawsuits from former members of the band.

If your label won't let you have the cover you want or sing the songs you want, then leave!

My whole team, it wasn't about putting the album out, it was about getting off the record company and going independent or going to another label. To the point we were like, 'Listen, just take 'Lasers.' You can have whatever percentage off the next ten records I do for the rest of my life. I just do not want to be here anymore.'

Too many people say to their brokers, I can't deal with this. Take my money. Do what you want. That's the worst attitude you can have.

Well I know I was contracted to Polydor so they couldn't use my name.

I think all the bad blood started when Geffen released a greatest hits package of my solo stuff.

I guess I've learned that there's really no such thing as a bad label, there is only a bad contract.

I'm a transactional lawyer; I negotiate all types of things, but with a particular focus in software licenses.

There isn't a single artist out there, I'm sure, who wouldn't take the most perfect record deal. If the right record deal came along, like, the perfect deal, we'd definitely take it.

When I was in N.W.A. and didn't get paid all the money I was owed, that's when the business side of showbiz hit me.

You have got to be the masters of your own financial future.

We'll look at a bunch of deals that are being offered to us, and we decide where to go and continue on I guess. It's not too early to start considering our options with other labels.

Anything that gets people to think harder about their financial security and take some responsibility is a good thing.

I wanted out of my record deal with EMI. They wanted me to record one type of album; I wanted to record the type of music I wanted to make.

When a record co. finds a guy now, they want to own everything. They want to own the rights to market that person's particular name. They want a piece of the action all the way through.

Any artist manages his own business along with his manager. Every band should.

Make sure you know what you are signing when you sign a recording contract.

When I approach a band, I want to respect them and be respectful of their music. I'm not gonna say, 'Look, you guys are real hot, so we'll stick you in the movie, and we'll get it in all these stores and all these stations.' That isn't right.

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.

The problem was the journalists who also did not understand much of my music, but they wrote about it. I think you fell into the usual trap laid out by parts of the press and other writers: that the poor musician has always to fight the evil companies and managers.

When you sign with a label, they do insist upon certain rights, and if you have a competent attorney, your rights will be protected.