Is there life after Sony Music?

I was asked this  yesterday. I went to a cookout at the house of my former boss (18- year record industry veteran, laid off). His father (30-year vet, known as The Führer, laid off) presented the question to me.

 

“Yes!” I answered.

Even though I haven’t attended a concert since January. It was with Thriving Ivory, so at least my “I’d never go see this band, but I will, because they’re a Sony artist and it’ll still be fun” concert time went out with a bang. It goes in the books as second Best/Weirdest Night Out With A Band, surpassing the time we took Test Your Reflex to the Clermont Lounge. Three 6 Mafia still has the top spot because the birds were chirping by the time it was all said and done.

Even though I have no idea what’s going on in music, altogether. I don’t ask my still-employed friends to keep me in the loop. I don’t read music press. I used to read Billboard only, but I haven’t even looked at one of those. I don’t listen to the radio, save some crappy college radio on occasion. For the Hell of it, I put on a bit of VH-1’s Top 20 countdown last night… I had no idea who half the artists were, never heard the songs in my life. I’d quit those music press/video station/radio bitches many years ago anyway… but at least, while working in the music industry, I was aware of everything. Now I know nothing. And it’s great.

 

I DO have a life after Sony Music, because I never let it overtake my life in the first place. And don’t get me wrong– I loved my job and the people I worked with, and I put in a LOT of hours. But I knew when to “turn it off.” Perhaps I would’ve gotten farther along in my career if I allowed Sony to consume me; or maybe if I’d pissed myself over MGMT, like 98% of the company did.

Actually, dropping everything in Atlanta to move to NY was not part of my financial plan. That affected my career advancement, definitely. But I do have other interests, and I can do other things and have applicable skills outside the  music realm.

As The Führer explained when he saw the beginning of the end of the record industry in the mid-90s (lawyers and accountants fucking it up), I ended my say with this:

“The guys who run the [record] companies aren’t musiclovers. As bad as the industry was getting, I loved music, so I wasn’t going to quit! Why should I be the one to leave. They’d have to fire me… and they did!”