I was chatting with a young artist this morning at work, and he was saying how he wished he had a mentor, someone who had been around in the business, someone with connections to help him find his way. I thought about it for a while and thought, yes, I can obviously see how that would be helpful for any up and coming artists.

Then I took a step backwards and thought about how many times they got it wrong.

My case in point:

Decca, while rejecting the Beatles – “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”

Joan Jett, after getting turned down by 23 record labels – “I grew up in a world that told girls they couldn’t play rock ‘n’ roll.”

Barry Gordy on Marvin Gaye’s huge song, Let’s Get It On - “the worst record I have ever heard.”

Some of them have it right. Of course, they are pessimists like the great Hunter S. Thompson. I”ll leave you with this gem.

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”