Music Career Quotes

#1. There was a time when I was fighting with the decision as to whether or not a Hasidic man could go out and have a music career in the world and be involved in pop culture. For me, I was able to bring those two things together for quite some time.

Matisyahu

#2. In films, I didn't crave the type of attention I had sort of stumbled into in my music career. And I do not audition well. I'm really not good at it. Early on, I did movies like 'Alpha Dog' and 'Black Snake Moan' because the directors didn't ask me to audition.

Justin Timberlake

#3. I titled the album Reflections because I am reflecting on my music career.

Miriam Makeba

#4. For me, it was always just taking the next opportunity to sing in front of someone and always trying to take those strides forward to find a place to sing, to make a music career. It was small increments, but I always knew that I had to take the next opportunity.

Jimi Westbrook

#5. I have a music career as well, so I was going to either be an actress or a musician. Then, I did both. But, I was always going to do something creative.

Zooey Deschanel

#6. I mean, my music career and my acting career - if I want to do them to the extent that I eventually do want to get to, it's going to be a bit of a balancing act. But I'm hoping they'll just go hand in hand.

Paloma Faith

#7. Family and friends always need to be bigger than your music career, and in that sense, your music will be bigger because you respect your family and your friends more.

Jens Lekman

#8. You know, in my music career there was a moment where the irony was just so heavy. There were people in my audience that were the reason I developed neuroses. These people that tortured my life were using my art, my poetry, as fuel for them, to torture other people.

Fred Durst

#9. The business aspect is one of the most important things about having a music career, because every choice you make in a management meeting affects your life a year-and-a-half from now.

Taylor Swift

#10. Having the savvy to know what you want to say, how you want to say it, and what music you want to say it over comes with time spent and wisdom gained in a music career.

Pharoahe Monch

#11. About 13-14 years ago, I went back to my alma mater, Fairfax High School, and ran into the music teacher. She invited me to come speak to the kids about the viability of a music career. When I went into the room where I used to play every day in a big orchestra, they had nothing!

Flea

#12. I had no idea that I was ever getting into music. I did not prepare for a music career, and here I've found, out of pure luck, that I did have, not only a talent and an ear, but a passion for music. And I have it to this day.

Clive Davis

#13. I think that there is a lot of power in a gay guy having a really (hopefully) successful music career while just being completely openly gay and honest and happy.

Troye Sivan

#14. Anyone that has a music career and an acting career I think is pretty fantastic.

Brittany Murphy

#15. Maybe I'll have something out by Christmas, maybe not. I don't know, I'm really trying to take my time and do what feels right. (about the next step in her music career)

Jennifer Lopez

#16. I try to look at this music career thing as the means to an end. And really, at the end of it, I see myself on a sailboat, sailing off the edge of the world.

Michelle Shocked

#17. I don't believe in competing, because there's room for everyone. You have to compete with yourself, because your duty to grow as a human being and keeping your humility is much more important than your music career. You can get money, women, travels, but all that's an illusion.

Juan Gabriel

#18. The odds are so stacked against you to have a music career in a place where there's virtually no music industry. So I always attribute it to God.

Pharrell Williams

#19. I think it's really cool how J. Lo's been able to balance an acting career and a music career. That's something I strive for.

Victoria Justice

#20. I started my music career at 18 and for a long while I let other people handle my affairs.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

#21. I guess my music career is my personal life. You know, I've always been a writer who wants to write about my experiences. And so this experience being added to that, I - I want to live extraordinary experiences. And when I give advice to people, I want it to be sage advice.

Jason Mraz

#22. Someone's career that I admire would have to be Justin Timberlake's because he started off on Disney and he made this huge film career and huge solo music career. I really respect him as an artist.

Victoria Justice

#23. I never got into sports at all until I was in my early 20s, after my music career got going.

Neal Schon

#24. Sometimes a producer and an artist get together and they make magic like Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. As far as my own music career - you could liken my chemistry with Timbaland to Marty Scorsese and Robert De Niro.

Justin Timberlake

#25. I started acting almost on a whim to help my music career.

Lance Reddick

#26. We're in the dark ages if J-Lo can have a music career because of her ass. And let's face it, that's it.

Jack Black

#27. The only thing that was economic, I might say, about my music career, aside from the fact that I did everybody's tax returns in the band, was the decision I made to leave the music business on economic grounds.

Alan Greenspan

#28. I've been singing my whole life and I've always wanted to be able to pursue a music career.

Corbin Bleu

#29. I love Shakira - she is such a beautiful person. She does so many good things for the world on top of making good music. And she is an awesome mom. When you are Latina, it is all about family, and to see that she prioritizes family and her career at the same time is really nice.

Becky G

#30. My mother insisted that I pursue music. I rented out my father's musical equipment and earned some money. As a child, I wasn't sure about a career goal, but I was always fascinated by electronic gadgets, specially musical equipment.

A.R. Rahman

#31. In my career I defined myself by my music, and the danger is that one defines oneself based on popularity. As you know, that goes up and down, and you can't judge how you feel about yourself based on what your sales is.

Kenny Loggins

#32. I want a long career in music, so you've gotta keep trying things out; it's gotta get progressively better.

Gin Wigmore

#33. My dad wanted me to play when I was a kid, so I learned to play the guitar. I pursued a career in music because I love it so much and I enjoy what it does to those who hear it.

Randy Travis

#34. I'm constantly thinking about what I'll do next. I never count on music being a career of longevity. I mean, longevity is key, and I hope that it lasts, but you just don't know, because it's not in your hands, you don't make the decision.

Beth Ditto

#35. Whether it's just the career path of doing independent music, being an artist, however you want to pigeon-hole it, it creates a certain type of character.

Doseone

#36. My advice would be if you want to pursue a career in the music business, don't.

Simon Cowell

#37. Ego is my career. Rap music is all ego.

Earl Sweatshirt

#38. I had no idea that I could sustain a career as an artist. But, I loved music and wanted to be in the music business.

Ray Stevens

#39. I couldn't concentrate on music. So I made the choice to give up my career as a musician in the frontline to deal with the business.

Robert Fripp

#40. People have been so supportive of this career for so long, and they are still enjoying the music that I bring to them.

Dionne Warwick

#41. I had always thought that I would do something that was connected to music as a career, or possibly Chinese, which was my major.

Charles Soule

#42. I'd always thought that if I could get sober and stay sober, I would be able to have a career making music. My drug and alcohol addiction was the one thing holding me back. I had finally gotten the tools to stay sober, and it was just a matter of writing the songs.

Macklemore

#43. I think of myself as a serious artist. Sometimes you can get in your head too much about that and forget that you have to have fun. I've been guilty in my career about that at times. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought I didn't want anybody else to have a hit with it!

Tim McGraw

#44. Dick Clark was a really great influence in my career; he helped me a lot with his whole organization, and they were awesome to me at all different points - but one thing that I really disagreed with him on was when he said that what I do, pop music, is a disposable art form.

Cyndi Lauper

#45. I maintain that when I finally retire from my career in music, I will go and live back in Wales - when I am an old person, if I live to be an old person. The water I miss, and the air, there's something different about it. And I miss the simple life.

Ellie Goulding

#46. I just want to thank Wayne for even mentioning me. I've been following his career since he started, just watching him evolve. He was always clever with the rhymes. My own quest was always to get my music out to everybody in the world and working with Wayne is truly a way to get it out there.

Aaron Dontez Yates

#47. It is a well known fact that most artists produce their best work early in their career. They may refine what they do but you usually get the measure of what they are about on their first outing.

Bill Drummond

#48. I guess you could say the beginning of my career as an actress was when I started performing in music videos.

Sheri Moon Zombie

#49. With Sumthin Else Music Works, I wanted to spread the love and give newcomers a chance to make it because something that really helped me were all the people who had given me an opportunity when I was putting my career together.

Nile Rodgers

#50. There were a lot of R&B groups that were my heroes, but the funny thing about my career and the way it went and where it went, at first I didn't really want to do pop music. I was a little bit more into jazz and R&B.

Frankie Valli

#51. For most singers the first half of the career involves extending one's repertoire, the second half trimming it.

Ethan Mordden

#52. You know, I'm the 1st black solo MC from Detroit. I didn't do the 50 Cent sales but hey ... I got a long career, I'm still young and I'm trying to bring really good music.

Obie Trice

#53. My whole family was very supportive of my choice in a career. I started playing music when I was about 6 years old.

Leland Sklar

#54. Music is the career I'm lucky enough to get paid for, but I have other desires and passions.

Layne Staley

#55. My career? I never think of it as a 'career.' Art and music and all those things that I'm creating are just part of me.

Yoko Ono

#56. Music reality shows are a good thing, especially for those seeking a career in music.

Kailash Kher

#57. Acting had been a hobby that turned into a career, the directing was a hobby that turned into a career and music just really allowed me to find another way to express myself.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner

#58. Music has been a huge passion of mine ever since I started playing the piano at age 3. Going to concerts, performing on my own, and listening to my favorite artists growing up confirmed that love for music and made me want to pursue it as a career.

Daya

#59. I'm hopefully touring with Colin Baker next year in Perfect Strangers. I have performed with Sylvia Simms in poetry and music evenings. I would love to do those for the rest of my career - they are so fun and witty.

Louise Jameson

#60. I wake up every day and think about what I am to other people. What I am to the people I employ, who depend on me to wake up and do my job that day and keep this career going? I think about what I am to the kids who listen to my music and all the other people involved in this project.

Halsey

#61. I believe I could have had a career in the music industry without 'X Factor,' but it was an amazing platform that propelled me to where I am now.

Leona Lewis

#62. I expect to make a career out of country music.

Darius Rucker

#63. Once your career becomes about something other than the music, then that's what it is. I'll never make that mistake.

Eric Church

#64. Music should be an integral part of one's life, but how one is able to access it or use it as a career vehicle will always remain in question.

Anne Akiko Meyers

#65. You just plant a few seeds, cultivate the shoots, and watch your career grow and branch out. It takes time and dedication. There are no overnight success stories in the music business!

Christopher Tin

#66. I've built a solid career there, but America's ten times the size. Now that we're onto the third record, I feel like the stars have aligned and American audiences are embracing my music even more.

Chantal Kreviazuk

#67. It's hard to come across a true country fan in L.A., but it's true that the fans are so loyal, once you're in their circle, you're in for your entire career. It just really speaks to me. Country music has so much soul and is so heartfelt. I think it's a perfect fit for me.

Lucy Hale

#68. My music is pretty versatile; I have a lot of genres and styles. I don't think I should be pigeonholed into one thing. So we'll see where my career goes.

Crystal Bowersox

#69. My pursuit was more in the music thing, so I never went out pursuing movies. It was more just pursuing my singing career because people came to me for singing more than they did for doing movies.

Darlene Love

#70. In terms of music, I can try anything I want, even something that doesn't work at all, because I'm not putting my career in jeopardy.

Celine Dion

#71. The Internet had been a BIG help with my career. My advice to musicians, Internet is the key. It gets your music heard all across the world.

Soulja Boy

#72. As a youngster, I never dreamed there could be a career actually earning a living writing music.

John Williams

#73. Being Bob Marley's son has done many things for me, in terms of having a career in music. I'm very proud of my music, and I'm very proud of where I'm from. People hear that I'm Bob Marley's son, and they turn on my music to listen just out of curiosity.

Damian Marley

#74. Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention.

Joaquin Phoenix

#75. I never wanted to really make a career out of doing Christian music exclusively, but I love it to my core. I love music. I love what I'm doing now.

Debby Boone

#76. Miles Davis was a master. In every phase of his career, he understood that this music was a tribute to the African muse.

Cassandra Wilson

#77. I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still blessed with the opportunity to make music and pass out a message like, 'Life is good,' to the world.

Nas

#78. All I could think about was, 'I just wanna blow him away. I wanna make him proud, because I really wanna sign with Timbaland and spend the rest of my career making music with Tim.'

Brandy Norwood

#79. I'm fascinated with the attitude of younger rock bands, even ones that are making money at it. I don't ever hear them talk about it as a "career." It almost makes me think there isn't even a music industry anymore, like an atom bomb fell and it was just eradicated forever.

Travis Morrison

#80. I am really passionate about my career and my music and I am so lucky to be able to do what I do for a job, so for all the early morning starts and long days, I could never trade it all in.

Rachel Stevens

#81. Rather than listening to music while you paint, listen to the sort of wisdom that can help grow your career.

Cory Trepanier

#82. I'm desperate to start a career in music.

Katie Price

#83. Even though there's no forum for me on the radio for the kind of music I sing anymore, I am still excited about having a career where I can sing the best music in the world, and people will come and hear me because of the hit records I've had in the past.

Johnny Mathis

#84. I've been making music for a long time, but I've been waiting to do it right, because I don't want people to think it's just a stepping stone in my career. A lot of actors go that route as a way of building their careers. I don't want it to be seen as that.

Evan Ross

#85. If you're going to be an artist, you have to create music that moves you, and to not try to fit in so much with what's happening around you. It's a career choice.

Nikka Costa

#86. Well, first of all, they're all about the music and all I care about in my professional career is the music.

Ronnie Spector

#87. I want to buy my mom a house; I want my family to never have to worry about anything. And I just want to have an amazing career in music, because I love to do it.

Ashthon Jones

#88. Music has been so healing in my life, so the fact that my music could be that for someone else is the best gift of my whole career. People have told me that they got married to my music, divorced to my music, and played my music while they were having their baby.

Gloria Estefan

#89. I was raised playing music in coffeehouses and I feel that was the foundation for my career. I think it is important that we remember where we came from.

Jason Mraz

#90. Law became boring, but like every job I've done, it helped prepare me for a career in music.

Estelle

#91. I used to play a few instruments including guitar and snare drums, but I think a musical background is an important part of a career. If you start out playing instruments you create a better instinct and feeling for music.

Nicky Romero

#92. My parents were both very musically inclined, they were both songwriters and musicians, so we grew up in the house singing music together, and R&B had a huge strong arm in the foundation of my career.

Jesse McCartney

#93. My parents taught me everything and set me up for life. I owe to them all the things I'm passionate about: music, art, the people I love, my career and family life, the fact that I have children and the way that I raise them.

Olivia Williams

#94. My parents always knew that I loved music. They just didn't think I'd try to make it a career. They thought I'd be a painter or an art teacher or something like that.

Benmont Tench

#95. As far as my New York influence, one thing I'm proud of in my career is, I rep Brooklyn, New York all day. But people don't look at my music as New York music. People consider my music underground music.

Talib Kweli

#96. I've actually performed at Gay Pride in Atlanta three times in my career. I've always had a large gay following, particularly in the lesbian community. I am grateful for that. To me, it means my music transcends categories. It also means that I'm a cute girl singing a rock song in an alto voice!

Jennifer Nettles

#97. Nothing is written in stone. So don't prepare yourself for a long and lucrative career. You might die tomorrow. Your gold holdings might become dust. Just make the music you want to make now and enjoy it.

Yoko Ono

#98. Music is by no means something I was like, 'I'm going to make a career out of this!' It's the only thing I know how to do, so it was more like, 'I hope to God I can make a career out of this!'

Hunter Hayes

#99. The things Elvis has done during his career and the things he has contributed and created are really something very important to the music business.

Bing Crosby

#100. It's hard to have a film and television career and do music work at the same time.

Denis Leary