I can't even begin to tell you how many times iv'e been told "Welcome to the music business." It's usually while I am curled up in the fetal position crying my eyes out. I found it so interesting when I first started coming to Nashville with my big eyes on being a big star, how often I'd hear this. I was young, I had a great investor, I had talent, I had paid some major dues, I had opened for huge acts like Terri Clark and Keith Urban, and I had a support group to die for. How could I go wrong? Unfortunately, I ran into some pretty shady characters. I know...weird huh! (For disguise purposes we will just call them Satan!) I kept noticing this trend of people promising amazing things for a very big price. Now I know most people are thinking well.. ya dummy! But if the price had been smaller and they were offering these amazing things, I might have called BS just because I have always known that you cant get something for nothing. So we dished it out by the handfuls. Cutting songs, doing music videos, all while being told that it came with a guarantee. And for the price I was paying, (which I wont mention out of shear personal pride) it damn well should have. Now being years down the road since this experience, of coarse I know that there are no guarantees in the music business. Any seasoned victim knows that! This is just my warning for all you newbies to the business. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES OF ANYTHING IN THIS BUSINESS! PERIOD! And if they promise you that there is, just know that hundreds of thousands of dollars later, you will be curled up in the fetal position crying your eyes out being told "Welcome to the music business!!"

Melissa Jones

www.melissajones.com
thisdamnmusicbiz.blogspot.com