When your idea of “the music business” is so screwed up that you think everyone who works in it is nothing short of a crook, then perhaps it’s time to look in the mirror and ask yourself, “if I worked in the music industry, would that make me a crook?” The answer is simple. Unless you’re doing things of a criminal nature, you’re not a crook and neither are the legitimate people who work in the industry who have built their empires and fulfilled their dreams.

Where exactly is “the music industry” located? For some, they would tell you the industry is in the west somewhere near the heart of Los Angeles. Others would argue that the genie in the bottle rests in the mid-west where the cowboy hats roam at large. That place is Nashville, the land of guitar strumming, gun toting yee-haws sitting in droves on benches overlooking Lyric Street from their porches. Or, so the picture would appear in the minds of those who dream of one day resting a rifle of their own on their laps whilst strumming a beat up guitar they owned since childhood.

Whether “the music industry” is described as Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Orlando, or some other place across the pond, the truth still remains that there is a misconception about what the definition of the world of dream makers should be. Whether you’re writing and/or performing pop music, country music, rock music, or some other type of (pick your genre) music, they all have one thing in common. It’s ALL music.

I wasn’t going to respond to this post as there are some who would prefer to attack the validity of what I do rather than admit to themselves that I might actually be fulfilling what I have set out to do with MY life, not theirs. I don’t have a problem with other people choosing to perform in cover bands to make a living. I have no problem with people playing in coffee houses, empty to near empty bars, or singing about the last drop of a liquor bottle they nursed during a lonely night of melancholy solitude.

Yeah, I do have friends who are in boybands. So what? They’re not the only friends I have and to presume I am sitting around writing lyrics with boy bands all day, every day, is laughable. I’m certainly laughing! HA HA HA HA

I was a college radio dj before I left for four years to serve in the United States Air Force. I am sure there’s a few on this board who would find something about that to complain about. Save your breath. I’m sick and tired of the bitterness seeping out of people who think they have the right to tell me how I should conduct myself in a business THEY aren’t even in.

I’ve worked my ass off to get somewhere with my dream. Ask Brian. Ask mike caro, jody whitesides, and others who have watched me from the beginning. I’ve been a member of JPF since 1999. I was a pompous, know it all kid back then with NO experience in the industry who wrote mediocre lyrics at best back then. Since then, I’ve grown in experience, both in the industry and in life, and I have earned the right to have a say on some things. Telling me I haven’t even begun to see what the industry is like is an insult to me. I’ve sat in the living room of one of my best friend’s houses in Los Angeles during New Years Eve as members of the band Chicago and Toto jammed together until the clock struck midnight. I’ve rubbed elbows with industry executives at parties in Los Angeles, at showcases, at red carpet events, and I’ve been in the studio as a guest of a major producer who wrote some of the biggest classics such as “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night.

I’ve built a great writing team and we’re working with industry professionals who have our back and who have been part of some of the biggest hits in the past ten years. So don’t presume to tell me I don’t know jack [naughty word removed] thank you very much. I know what it’s like to work day and night trying to get somewhere. I’ve spent hours in the studio working on material and projects in the hopes that it will propel me forward in my “career”. I’m not just a lyricist. I wear many different hats. I’ve helped connect people to professionals who as a result, have gotten the attention of executives at Sony, Universal, Atlantic, and Island Def Jam. In some instances, those turned into actual signings.

I brought up Blaze Trak here as a genuine desire to show people that if they don’t know where to go to make the connections they normally would NEVER make, they could check this new company out. I didn’t create this thread so you guys could crap on the industry, disrespect other people (including myself), and hang me out to dry as if I am some insignificant piece of laundry you can discard at will.

So put your “bullshit” meters away and show some damn respect. If you don’t want to use Blaze Trak, don’t, but shut the hell up so others can decide for themselves what they want to do.

That is all.

Last edited by Gregory Watton; 04/14/11 03:16 AM.