Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.PropertyOfZack is thrilled to be debuting our brand new feature, Contributor Blogs. Contributor Blogs are blogs authored by musicians, label employees, producers, or other professionals that discuss the music industry and their thoughts on it, whether about record labels, downloading issues, or anything else that may be on their mind.
We are glad to be debuting the feature with our first Contributor, JR Wasilewski of Less Than Jake. JR is one of the most respected musicians within our scene, so it was an easy choice to ask him to be involved in the feature. In the blog that you’ll read below, JR addresses music label employees and outlines his beliefs of what needs to change if we want to move forward and once again have a thriving music industry. It’s one hell of a read, and JR will continue to write his thoughts for us every few months. Click “Read More” to read the full post, and enjoy it— it’s truly informative!I am never really sure of a good way to start these things. I’m actually not even sure why anyone would want to see what I have to say. Let’s be brutally honest: I play saxophone in a ska band. I’m not an accomplished songwriter, someone who’s sold millions of records, or even someone whose opinion matters in the grand scheme of things. I’m not recognizable and what I think or say bears no weight on anyone. I’m just some jack-off who was literally in the right place at the right time. For those reasons I am very thankful of what I have. The opportunities that have been given to me are my dreams come true; literally.
The question has been asked more than once: any regrets? The honest answer to that question is there are no regrets, but there sure were a lot of things they didn’t warn me about. They didn’t tell you about the loneliness, the frustrations, the fear of failure, how that fear makes you do things that go against every instinct you have, and how to deal with their repercussions. I was always attracted to the management side of the business and it was about 10 years ago when I really started to pay attention to the inner workings of the music industry. I saw the people who made the machine run. I realized that the true power lay in their hands. It’s not the presidents and A&R’s. It’s the interns and assistants. Those are the ones that are the future of this industry. These people have the real power.
And you are the ones I am writing to.
Click read more and read this. JR is rad.