Originally Posted by SmeezyBeezy

Aren't some artists able to retain creative control through majors though? I've always been curious how that comes to be.

The Flaming Lips release crazy shit on their major all the time. I guess the difference is (aside from the fact teh Lips are so revered) they are never going to put out a "hit pop album". MIA has that potential, as many thought/still think All Time Low had/has.

Originally Posted by herestoyoufla

I'm not gonna write you a dark song, 'cause you asked for it, cause you need one....

nice reference

Originally Posted by SmeezyBeezy

Gotcha, thanks for the insight. A band that comes to mind who has been able to navigate the majors their way is MGMT. The first album had these huge singles with Kids and Time to Pretend, and they went against that with their follow-up, and based on interviews I've seen, they seemed to have the ball in their court when it came to the control. Glad you guys are in a better position with Hopeless now, they seem to handle their bands well.

At the same time, MGMT regressed with Congratulations in the opinion of most people. At least with their first album they had huge singles. Their second had a coupld of tracks which received air play just because of the debut's success but had little going for it truthfully. A band with such strong ability to write hit pop songs might be best sticking to that. If Congratulations had another Time To Pretend on it it would have been more successful all around. Not defending major label idiots whose only concern is the bottom line, just pointing out that constructive criticism isn't the worst thing in the world. Hell, MIA's label should have asked her to put a hook into at least one song on her last album and it might have been listenable.

Originally Posted by rsk423

/Thread

And I'm happy Alex is in here talking about the benefits of the disadvantages of major labels. My favorite band, Motion City Soundtrack, was on Columbia and ironically made an album that could be easily been on an indie label. I still think Even If It Kills Me was their major label debut, even if that's not the case. It just depends on the artist and the label. Timing is huge too.

The song is called Timelines, idiot.



















/sarcasm

I want that new M.I.A. A$AP, i hope she doesn't have to change any of it

Originally Posted by AlexAllTimeLow

To elaborate on 'retaining creative control': It's not something that actually appears in the contract with specific numbers. It's just two parties going back and forth until someone reaches an agreement. It varies case by case and label to label. Interscope played hard ball with us when it came to what songs "needed" to be on Dirty Work. Hopeless records has never once tried to bully us about what should or shouldn't be on our records. I think that's probably true throughout the entire industry.

Not throw the focus all at you but before Dirty Work was pushed back (the first time) you had said that the theme of the album revolved around "the negative aspects of being in a band in contrast to the good times (NP)", but as I listen to the album I only hear maybe 3 or 4 songs that could be playing into the theme you talked about? Did Interscope make you guys change that original idea?