It's a balancing act. I started in this business in the mailroom, but I became an A and R guy. You know, A and R people back then, just had one worry and that was, “Listen, I made a great record. If it's not getting played promotion doesn’t know what they're doing.” And if it didn’t sale, sales doesn’t know what they're doing. And if the project didn’t make money, “Listen, I made a great record.”

Well, that mindset - that way of thinking is obsolete today. Today you really have to be able to marry both, the creative and the business. The truth be told, shareholders run these companies. I don’t care if it's Warner’s, if it's EMI - the shareholders are the bosses. They say they want to make money every quarter.

So again, unlike when I first started out in 1978 in this business, today you have to continue to be a creative force in the market place in order to compete and thrive; while at the same time be able to deliver shareholder expectations every quarter.

So, I believe today we probably take less risks. I mean, we’re still a business where risk is a way of life. But nevertheless, I believe that today, again, we have to be much more selective in taking those shots at the next, whatever, big discovery. We have to be extremely selective and we have to be much more prudent in the way we market and promote. The days of frontloading a marketing plan - phase one, you know, you mortgage the house - those days are gone. Today, you know, marketing plans have to be realistic and different phases depending on what’s happening with the record ware and how.

So it's a much more complex business today, because again, the creative side and the business side are really - they're intertwined. Neither side can blame the other for lack of success. They have to work very closely. So it's certainly has been a process for everyone.

I've been running a company for a long time. I started EMI Latin in 1989 - opened that company up. And prior to that I was vice-president of A and R at CBS International. So I went from a creative job to - from ’84 to ’89 and then in ’89 to opening up a music label. We opened up their first Latin division at EMI.

So I've been in that mindset for a long time. EMI Latin wouldn’t have been a success story - I was there for 12 years, from ’89 to 2001 - if I would have just gone there with my A and R hat or A and R cap. It wouldn’t have worked. So it was a matter of trying to figure out how to marry both and find that balance.

For a lot of people who don’t - who have been in a creative capacity for a long time and are sort of faced with the dilemma of, “Listen your job is not just to sign artists and all that, but you got to bring in a recording on budget. If you say you're going to spend $10 making this record it cannot be $11.” Those days are over. And again, being very selective. The days of throwing 42 things against the wall and then two or three would stick - those days are long gone.

Is it a more stressful business today? I think it is; it has to be. But it’s still a lot of fun and I wouldn’t change anything in the world. I think the next best thing to not having the musical talent and not being able to be the performer is to be able to make a living at what I do. I don’t have the talent to be an artist, so I'm blessed to be able to be here and call this a job.

[End of Audio]