Why I Won’t Touch A Record Deal Even With 100 Foot Pole
I remained mostly silent on the Taylor Swift situation since publishing a few articles. I did mention my view once a few articles back on me signing a record deal.
Being a Tay fan, I didn’t want to just jump in with my opinion without doing my own research, or drawing conclusions. I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a lie. It sucks.
People eat up the negativity. Then media broadcasts it to boost their ratings. And then they come around later acting like they were always on your side if/when your name clears. Then you don’t trust.
As I write this article, my trust in people is not that high.
After a while and looking at plenty of information. I’m siding with Swift.
I really like Scott and Scooter. If I was a friend to them, I would tell them in private I don’t like this business deal.
Both of them were in it for money. There’s nothing wrong in wanting a gold mine aka a catalog worth 300 million dollars to secure your future financially. But how they did it was dirty.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting money. MJ owned the Beatles' catalog. But his attorney approached McCartney and Yoko Ono to see if they were buying it first. (It may have fractured their friendship, I gotta look that up.)
Scooter manages some of my favorite artists (Justin, Ariana and Demi to name a few).
I don’t like how Taylor wasn’t offered a chance to get her masters first. It was a behind the back stab.
Scott broke a promise to Taylor because 300 million meant more to him than Taylor’s trust.
The thing that Scott did that I thought was somewhat interesting is not speaking out before he got death threats. Usually people want to speak out to defend or justify what they did. But Scooter for a while remained silent.
What happened to Taylor? This is why I won’t touch a record deal with a 100 foot pole.
When Taylor signed at 15, she had no idea she would be the big mega superstar she is today.
I’ve been offered enough bad record deals to the point I want to be and stay independent.
The promises of fame, fortune, and perhaps a few guys sexually harassing me just turned me off. I had to keep putting my foot down and saying I have no desire to go to your apartment at 2 am. What is wrong with you fools?
I’ve been told that I can be a star and they can make me “famous”. (Unlike the Kanye song, what if this b**** doesn’t want to be famous? Lol)
My response is how in the hell can you make me a star when you ain’t one yourself? That’s like telling me you can make me a millionaire when you ain’t one yourself!
I guess you wanna put stars in a hotel room and get on top of me? Yuck. And just because you paid me $60 for a party doesn’t mean nothing. Whatever happened to just doing something nice just to be nice, and to not look for something in return?
You might be someone trying to make money off of me (and it turned out to be true later on through mutual associates). That has happened a lot to me in the local Indy music industry, especially.
Have you ever had the feeling that people were more interested in making money off you instead of building with you as a person?
I’ve gotten the impression that many of the labels I’ve worked with was more interested in looking the part instead of being the part. There’s a video that suggests that some record labels put on a front for clout and fame. TRUE. I worked with more labels that wanna take pictures and post on Facebook and Instagram like we are doing something. BUT WHEN IT CAME TIME TO ACTUALLY PUTTING IN WORK: (I.E: Recording time, Marketing strategies, touring, etc,) it DIDN’T HAPPEN nearly as much as it should. I won’t lie, I did jump ship and leave Indianapolis’ scene because I got tired of it. I stopped engaging, because to be quite frank I no longer give a f****. There’s many times when I go to Indianapolis undetected. And surprisingly when I stopped giving my hometown the time of day or energy especially in the music arena, people started reaching back out to me. I’ll always support my hometown artists. It’s funny when you stop paying attention to something, then they start coming around thinking you are doing something. The simple act of being and posting pictures in New York means nothing (anyone can do that). But to people back home they act like I’m doing “big” things by moving to a big major city. Not really. I just go to the NY, LA, Nashville more because I get more done.
Everything I’ve been offered to this point I had several people look at (including attorneys).
I watched JoJo’s story.
I watched Tinashe’s story.
I watched Keisha’s story. The idea of a some guy coming on to me and I was stuck in a sexually harassing situation because of a contract? Absolutely not.
I’m watching Taylor Swift’s story unfold in front of my eyes. Taylor got the redemption by sweeping the AMAs and performing a medley of her songs.
Lowkey, I don’t like drama and bloodsuckers.
If I sense it, I’m out quicker before they can say boo.
Turning down so many offers may cost me “fame”. I don’t care, because it’s not worth signing your life away for an advance.
Over the course of my catalog of music articles, I hope this message is made clear: you don’t have to be famous or popular to earn a living from your music. I’m neither.
The older I get, and the more famous and semi-famous people I hang around in LA and NY circles, the less I’m interested in being a “pop sensation” or “pop star”. It’s nice, but it’s extra. Same with winning awards. It’s great to be validated and valued for your work, but fans buying my music and letting me earn a living is enough.
I touched on this in another article, but I came across another article that touched on why your main focus shouldn’t be fame.
Drew’s List:
Show up 5-6 hours before every show, often hungover or stoned out of your mind if that’s your thing.
Sound check… go back to your hotel while possibly being mobbed by people.
Not be able to leave the hotel room and be stuck there like a prison at times.
Have failed relationships because you’re never in one place too long.
Miss important family events.
Deal with the stress of the press, ignore your phone in case you freak out on a troll and destroy your career.
My List:
See my I have very little interest in being a celebrity article for more details.
Also I’m adding a few more here. (include everything that Drew said some I’ll probably will repeat by default if you read enough of my music articles).
#7. Failed relationships and missing family events is the damn truth. These two nomad articles explains it’s perfectly, but you will miss a lot of events. Being uninvited and being on the outside looking in is the norm. People may take it personally that you don’t make more “time for them.” People will accuse you of being self-absorbed and selfish when you put 100% of your heart into your mission (you can also use the word craft, passion, etc). There’s times when I decided to work on a music recording or something business or acting related instead of going out to bars. Some former friends that didn’t and still don’t understand it said “selfish”, “mean”, “cold hearted” and “into yourself.” I call it delayed gratification. You got to have understanding people that understand that you’re not going to always be available and the times you do spend together is precious ; what you’re working on requires you to make a lot of sacrifices. You have a mission and goals that you want to accomplish; you gotta drop distractions. I attend Indy events when I’m in town and the amount of former friends that treat me mean and jealous acting is absurdly high. You gotta be prepared for people to drop on you like flies; I know people in my age group want to be liked and accepted, but you gotta get used to being hated.
This is why I have my lovely dog; animals will love you unconditionally, and won’t start the jealous, petty, ego or distant bit. When people let you down (and they will constantly, become your own #1 supporter and get you a few pets).
#8. You got to get used to people misunderstanding you and hating on you. By growing, people may say you’re alienating them. But a lot of times people hate to see you do better, and will drag you down like crabs in a barrel given a chance. In other words, they hate to see you outgrow them; they hate that you’re from the same place, and they are still in the same place.
In order to do extraordinary things, you got to do extraordinary work. You gotta do what most won’t so you can have what most don’t. I don’t discuss what I do with old and new friends alike, I show them.
#9. If my hotel room is like this.
I won’t mind being stuck there like a prison. Hell send me there right now in fact.
I’ll stay stuck here anytime. Take me to that motherf***** and you won’t hear me complain one bit.
#10. I stay away from most people and big crowds 3/4 of the time. I won’t mind fan mobs occasionally, as long it’s kept to a bare minimum. If it starts to be a regular occurrence, I may say “What the f***.”
#11 When I book an acting gig, I do celebrate the night before and night after. I don’t go hungover. Acting is too competitive and I won’t go to set hungover. I make it a point to go to soundcheck hours before anyways. I don’t want to sound like an idiot on stage. Trust me, you don’t want anyone saying you sound off-key or whatnot. Put a little effort up front to put on a excellent show, and it will pay off dividends.
#12. It’s hard to find true friends and supporters out here. You gotta wonder what people’s ulterior motives and intentions are. If you do find that gold mine?
Find you some friends that support you the way Halsey and Taylor supports Selena.
Find you some friends that will support you regardless if you had the best vocals of your career, or if they are the only ones in the audience. If you sing well or way off key like a pile of shit, they would still be there singing your song in the crowd with you.
In other words find people who will be there through the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. They come few and far between.
Drew is 100% right on this: If you can’t handle other stressing and pressured filled things in your life, you won’t be able to handle fame. If you can’t handle the heat of people kicking you down on the way to the top, GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN. People have a tendency to intertwine fame with success. You can have the successful music career without the complications of fame. You can be successful in your own right, even though others around you don’t see it or the bigger picture. Not everyone wants to be or meant to make a billion dollars off their music.
I hated people keeping up with me at a local level (people from my grade school, for example) and wondered if they would ever find something else better to do with their time. I’ll take it straight on if fame comes my way, but I’m not tripping if I don’t.
Taylor, Post Malone, Halsey and so many others said if it wasn’t for the fans, they wouldn’t be able to do what they do during AMAs. The truth.
The support of my tribe is enough. Grammys, AMAs, People’s Choice is nice, but it’s extra.
I’ve also left behind the idea that you have to have “achieved things” at a certain age. And if somehow if it didn’t then, then it won’t ever happen. It’s the same concept that Hoda said about her engagement. It’s Hollywood’s and music industry’s obsession with the fountain of youth. And I happily ignore that. It doesn’t matter if you are 15, 30, 45, 65 or 100. As long as you have blood flowing through your veins, you have a chance to do it, as Lil Nas X said in his AMAs speech.
On the acting side of things, it’s a little different. To get to the sag-aftra projects, it’s best to have agents. I’m with non-exclusive talent agencies. I can sign with as many as I want, as long as they are not within 50 miles of each other. I got them in Indiana, NY, LA, Chicago and so forth.
On the music side of things, I’ve ran into too many wannabes that care too much about what others think of them. Or they wanted a girlfriend. I knew to get away from one when he was using Tinder during our recording sessions. I ran away from that situation the first chance I got.
I might sign a deal under these circumstances, because it does work out for some people.
- I keep my masters and own all my recordings.
- I release music when I want. Nobody is suggesting I release an album a month. But if I want to release 2 singles back to back and two EPs later on in a music year, why not? At the most I would do an album a year, or every six months, it would depend on several factors.
- If I’m with a band. Individually I would still be free to record with who I want.
- No advance. I’ll market my own music with my own funds. Shit it isn’t worth it.
- I got to be able to trust. If I sense a pimp/whore situation I’m out. (One time I over heard guys talking about guy things. I have no desire to hear about how you wanna f**** a girl. It was obvious they wanted stripper girls in the recording studio. I got so turned off after that. To this day their calls go to voicemail.)
- I’ll think of more later.
Do what Akon suggests, don’t sign at all and build independently. If a record deal comes your way, approach with caution.
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Hello There! I’m Alesha! I’ve been involved in different businesses in several different capacities from being ceo, coo, co-founder, and more. I’ve learned so much from creating businesses, and I look forward to all the learning experiences I will have from starting new ventures. 2019 I’m excited to announce that I’m going to add more businesses to my portfolio. STAY TUNED! I’m going to introduce them sometime next year!
With one business I was involved with, we made it possible to install a little device with customized hardware and a SaaS solution implemented to the router, the business owner was able see live data about social media info collected.
With another company, we had professional internet marketing company that focus on digital marketing campaigns, services and jobs such as SEO, PPC, Online Reputation Management, and social media marketing.
With EYT, I oversaw day-to-day operations and keeping the CEO apprised of significant events;Yes I actually talk with my business partner on a daily basis. I created operations strategy and policies; Communicated strategy and policy to employees and interns; Fostering employee alignment with corporate goals; and overseeing human resource management. I also delegated tasks to my team.
With Bones’ Custom Guitar. We created custom guitars for musicians with imported wood. No one Bones’ guitar is the same.
The Wish Benefit Concert is a concert founded by Ayana Carter, Mel Sexton and Alesha Peterson. It’s privately held at Riley Hospital For Children.
