Richie Havens on the DIY music business, 2002

You can actually sell or give or share your music with the whole world. You don’t have to have the middleman. Availability has always been the trick gate that record companies have stood in front of. For most musicians, it’s like, “You can only get through this gate through me.” So then it means, “You have to jump through this hoop first, and then I’ll let you go in.” You don’t really have to go through that anymore. You can make your own Web site and get your music out there. And a lot of people are doing it, and much to their surprise, doing it well. It comes down to this: if the music is good and it has something to say and it has something to offer a listener, then that listener has the wonderful ability to make that choice. He wants it, he gets it.

I can tell you for a fact that in the 1960s, for every hit song or every hit group that made an album, I probably would much rather have the demo they gave the company than the album the company made. It’s still the same. Make your own music. Get the atmosphere around that song that you want. And the people will hear it and will feel it.

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

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