StarPolish Interview: Sonny Landreth - Page 8

LANDRETH: I was just having this conversation with a friend the other night, and I think the best way to think of it as is a work in progress, because I think there's so much going on right now, a lot of change, definitely something in the air. There are definitely things going on with labels today, and the whole nature of the business on the Internet. But what I can say is that my experience with a major label is that they had such a huge system in place, so when I made albums for BMG, I also had my songs published through BMG, so in effect they were my publisher. So what that meant is in terms of distribution — for example, in Europe — is that when they are ready to have an artist on the road and do the drill, they can just put "product" in stores.

On the other hand, with an independent it's a lot more of an uphill struggle. You have different people in different territories that they have to deal with on an individual basis in a way that the major labels don't. It's just a whole different kind of thing. On the other hand, with the independents you have a more personal touch. You're on an everyday basis with the people and you become friends with them, kind of like family. There's a real value to that I don't think you can attach a dollar sign to, and I definitely felt the old cliché of getting lost in the corporate wheel in the way it worked at BMG. As far as I knew, they didn't even know that I was a writer for them. Most of the time, at least I got the check — at the least I had that, don't get me wrong. So you would look at that as an advantage, and then you look at the disadvantages and you size them up on an individual basis and get the opportunity to make the most of whatever your situation is.

I will say this much: in either case, I was given the opportunity to be free to create in a way that I wanted to. I didn't have anyone standing over me telling me what to do, or telling me, "No, you can't do that" or "Here's what you have to do," and I've been very thankful for that. In the long run you have to still get out on the road and play, and I still think it's the nature of the experience people get at a live gig that people can't get necessarily on a disc, and that's still the main part of the whole equation.

Article Author: Eric Olsen

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