Music business is not quite the same as most businesses. I can definitely relate to people by what they mean about trusting people in the music business in general. If you ask me though, i think you might want to consider taking the Independent multimedia musician-artist and entrepreneur route all the way through, which is always the best.

I've found over the years that the only best business in the music industry and entertainment industry has always been distribution and media relations. You get to take care of all the behind the scenes and they make sure that they get your work either in stores or in the media. I'm always skeptical with the majors wanting to take our works, because we have to be realistic - they're in the business of making money, even if it means stealing it. It's unfortunate that it happens, as there is a lot of sinister energy in the majors (even multi-billion dollar corporations.)

The huge factors that drives this kind of energy is taxation status, competition and bank loan payment - which also leads to major labels being greedy, just to keep strongly competitive and above the competition. Unfortunately, this also happens in Real Estate Investing and even the Stock Market Investors; it's all cut-throat and crazy.

I know of an artists who wears all the hats in his career: Songwriter, Singer, Video Director and Producer - of all his works. Then he picks someone who, not only does he trust implicitly, but who is also passionate about marketing, promotion, Media Relations. Most of all, the person he has promoting him also stays close to Mikey in terms of the business side and collaboration on strategies, always making sure that they both know what is going on.

The Media Relations thing is so important, if you can get a business partner who is also a very trustworthy friend with very high integrity, that is always better. I know that the saying goes that "Friends and Business shouldn't mix" but I disagree to a point. The best people in business are our most trustworthy, dependable and integral yet very very intelligent and smart friends. They are willing to take a bullet for you and also willing to stand up for what is right when a situation is something to be careful with. A good example is to have a lawyer who eventually becomes one of your close friends. Even if they have a ton of clients, they are still the ones who will know how to get you a better deal and also to get you out of a bad one. There are bad ones, yes, but there are good ones too, thankfully.

One of my friends is a multi-millionaire, but there was someone that is in the media who wanted to take him down because his ideals were different when it came to investing. So that person got the media to write lies about him and his business. However my friend had enough evidence against that person to have a case going. However, when that person brought in some big-wigs to counter his defence, my friend used the strategy of bankruptcy in order to close the case. This perticular media was trying get millions of dollars out of my friend's company but by closing it down for bankruptcy the media powerhouse could not come after the company. They also couldn't come after him because it was a business bankruptcy, not a personal one. So he still got to hold on to his money. He was smart enough to outsmart them.

Even if you can hire a couple of lawyers, would you know how they would help you out in detail? If not, believe it or not, you need to be the one doing the research in detail before getting a lawyer.

If you ask me, just go as the independent entrepreneur. I know it's a ton of work but it will pay off in the end. The headaches associated with being an independent is much more manageable than dealing with untrustworthy Entertainment executives who will do anything to steal your work, just to add more zeros to their paychecks. Plus, at the end of every project, it is so rewarding.