Avril Lavigne Quotes

I posted some songs on MySpace, and right away people started asking, 'Where can I get a CD?'

Radio and TV can still push a band, but things need to be shaken up. There is the Internet, but mostly what I see there is little kids on YouTube playing music.

The new artist is meeting the general public before they meet the record company. They're able to put the material on YouTube and have a million views before they even meet an executive at a record company, and get the deal based on that.

Social media and music in general have been changing so fast. You can go on Twitter and go from one artist to another. What I really like about it is the opportunity to communicate directly with your fans.

I started with a website, Jasonmraz.com, pre-YouTube. You could e-mail me directly, and I would send you a CD.

I'll tell you who doesn't get enough credit, Soulja Boy. He was the first one to do something, post it, yank it down, and sell more records because of it.

When we first started in '04 or '05, that's when social media started to become a way to release music and connect with fans - and our fans were kind of at the forefront of that.

I do love the social-media aspect of working records nowadays. You can do a video and put it up on social media, and people check you out who would never check you out before. I think it's much cooler that you can just get the product right to the fans.

It's easier for fans to consume one or two songs at a time. Not everybody buys records, so some songs can get overlooked.

As much as people are griping about the Internet taking sales away from artists, it's been a huge promotional tool for me.

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

YouTube is an amazing platform for young musicians - although it's harder to get noticed now that everyone is on it.

I feel like I'd like to continue putting out records and start putting them out more rapidly than I have until now and for me if I can keep selling the records to the fans that already like me that's fine.

A lot of people see a Nissan ad and they see a finished product in a record store or on iTunes and that's the face of the band.

Now the music industry is sort of like a Craigslist venture, right? Where you're making your own records and selling them online.

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

Look at music for what it's worth around the world and not just America. In other countries, people are still buying CDs and going to record stores. But in America, it's all about digital. The game is breaking down. But, look at me, you need to know how to play the game the right way.

My whole career began because I was always putting my music on the Internet. By the time I had my first tour, I had an audience everywhere I went, because people were listening online. I started with a website, Jasonmraz.com, pre-YouTube. You could e-mail me directly, and I would send you a CD.

It's a sad state when more people retweet than buy records.

Good bands won't get famous anymore unless they get really lucky.

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

I grew up in an era where the record companies just sold records to everybody, and the whole family bought songs. Today, record companies are failing because they are putting their accent just on the young, and I think that's rather silly.

Those 'Pledge' records did good for me, and they're the foundation that this Killer Mike is built on, but I was judging myself on physical sales and didn't understand that music sales were declining overall.

Selling a million records used to be a big deal. I guess it's not anymore.

Bands are actively seeking more film involvement - because the days of recording albums and MTV and even touring, to some extent, are gone.