08/04/2026
๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ดโฆ
I had a conversation recently with a few A&Rs, directors and artists in the music industry.
It started casuallyโฆthen it got real.
One after the other, they shared stories of being taken for granted, sidelined and ripped off by artists, managers, even record labels.
One person said something that stuck with me:
He invested in an artist, believed in him and even housed himโฆ until he blew.
And then?
He got cut off.
Another said he actually had a contract in placeโฆ
and still got sidelined by the label.
At some point, I had to ask:
โ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต?โ
Because there was a pattern which was lack of structure.
I asked if they had systems in place to protect themselves going forward.
Their response was,
โ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ด.โ
And that right there is the problem.
In an industry built on talent and relationships, too many people are still operating on trust alone.
At some point, you have to decide:
๐ณ๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐?
A contract is not a sign of distrust. It is a sign of structure.The music industry is full of incredible, gifted people who keep giving without ever building the structures that protect what they give.
If you are a creative, a producer, a director, an A&R or anyone who pours into others for a living ,please hear this:
๐๐๐๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐จ,๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ , ๐๐ค๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ. ๐ฝ๐ช๐๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฉ, ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ชโ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐.
๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ง๐ค๐ค๐ข ๐๐๐จ๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง. ๐ผ๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐ค ๐๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช.
Because the people who value you will not run from structure.
They will respect it.
Have you experienced this or seen it happen? Drop it in the comments. This conversation needs to be louder. ๐
