James Taylor on the marketing of music, 1991

My musical style developed really in a vacuum. It developed in North Carolina with a lot of time on my hands--empty, open time--and I think that’s true of a lot of musicians who develop their own thing. It takes a lot of time to practice, and it takes a certain amount of alienation to want to do that instead of wanting to do social things. It means that you in some way are cut off. It’s always a funny and, I think, jarring thing when you bring these things to market, when it starts to be something that happens in a public context. It’s a very iffy transition for a lot of players.... The marketing side is taken very seriously and gets a lot of attention and a lot of interest. It’s validated, and it eats your music--it eats it up.

From the book The Complete Singer-Songwriter: A Troubadour's Guide to Writing, Performing, Recording, and Business