Tim Commerford Quotes

I know the history of the record business so well because I followed Billie Holiday into the record studios. It was so primitive compared to the sophisticated business today.

In those days I don't' think they were even demos.

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.

The bricks and mortar of the music business, they don't exist any longer.

The Shades never recorded anything, Little Daddy and the Bachelors recorded a couple of records, ya.

I still like to play the guitar, but I rarely have anything to do with the music business these days. I mean, there is no music business anymore, is there?

Record companies worrying more about market share than developing artists - I hear there was a time when if your first record didn't sell 8m copies, you were still given a chance to grow as a songwriter.

My parents were involved in the record industry, so I was exposed to the arts very early.

When The B-52s started in the late '70s, music and the business was totally different. Obviously, it's easier for everyone to be able to work with music, record, and get good quality.

I like work, I like song writing, and I like the history of Atlantic Records. They've sat in the studio with so many artists - like Ray Charles, for example - and created something amazing. As a label, they seem to be great at growing bands rather than telling you how to do it.

The business today is completely different and it's very producer driven, so that a songwriter needs to have producing chops, be a singer/songwriter, or find a singer to develop.

The Blossoms were actually the first black background singers that did recording sessions in California, but we had to start giving work away. We just couldn't do it all.

They told me I should be making my own records. So I figured, 'why not?

I'm developing artists for my new record label, my son's band, Intangible, being one of them.

I will be developing artists for my new label. The rest is in God's Hands.

The people who are making money are the ones who are writing and singing their own songs.

I've never had a relationship with a record executive. I always went to the record company by someone that liked my playing. Then they would get fired, and I'd be left with the record company. And then - because they got fired - the record company wouldn't do anything for me.

I am not a piece of hash. I'm in charge of Factory Records. I think.

How about no one's ever going to outsell Michael Jackson at selling records because the record industry is over. Game over. There's no more record stores. With no more record stores there's no more pressing plants. With no more pressing plants, there's no more charts.

You know, I do music. If you look under the hood of the industry I'm in, it's all based on technology. From radio to phonographs to CDs, it's all technology. Microphones, reel-to-reels, cameras, editing, chips, it's all technology.

I think it's very important for hip-hop, when an artist reaches a certain level, to ascend to executive work.

I always considered trying to make a living playing music. But it was always really clear to me, at the various stages in my life, that it really wasn't a possibility unless some phenomenal thing happened.

There are a lot of actors who try to get records made and try to make record deals, and everybody goes, 'Ugh.' It used to be expected in the entertainment business. I mean look at Sinatra, Bing Crosby. All these guys started out as singers.

I've just signed a contract to make records in Nashville. It won't amount to much at first, but after a year or so, I will really be in the money.

I want to sell music. That's all I'm interested in selling.