After having hits and problems with Sony in almost equal measure, Sophie B. Hawkins went out on her own - she has done quite well:

BANKRATE: How do you see your future, business-wise?

HAWKINS: The thing in business is you have to have something you own, even if it's on a small level. Something that's original and unique and has its own life. For me, that means owning my masters. I'm a songwriter. I'm 100 percent my own writer. So I always get checks. If someone else covers my songs, I get checks. If my song's on the radio, I get checks. So the next step from being a songwriter was owning the actual masters, which is what I did when I left Sony. If I only sell 100 CDs at a concert, I get a lot of money from that, as opposed to 3 cents per when I was on Sony, which I never even saw because they always say you're not recouped and can't get any money.

BANKRATE: What was your economic picture like during the struggle with Sony?

HAWKINS: Because I had written all the songs and I had a hit, I had made a tremendous amount of money. Every time a royalty check came in, I fell on the floor, shocked. I didn't understand how popular the songs were. And it's still the case because those songs are played a lot. So my financial situation was good, but not as good as after I left Sony because I still had lots of people in my life siphoning off my money, and I wasn't watching it. When I left Sony, I got rid of my business manager. I write all my own checks now. I had a year where I even kept my own books because I needed to learn about it. So now I do everything myself. I have different ways I invest — in land, stocks, bonds, in some funds. I have Ameritrade, E*Trade and I even have a more traditional Bear Stearns account. So I'm pretty flexible and very aware. I pay my bills twice a month on Sunday, religiously.

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