"I'm really happy with Elektra, I don't have anything bad to say about them at all. I always knew a major label was the right place for me to be. I never really had an opportunity to go to an independent label anyway"
About this Quote
Gratitude can sound a lot like damage control when it arrives this polished. Jon Crosby, speaking as a working musician rather than a brand ambassador, strings together a set of compliments that feel less like celebration and more like pre-emptive narrative management: no complaints, no regrets, no alternate paths worth mentioning. The repetition of “really” and the blanket “at all” reads like someone trying to close a door before anyone asks what was behind it.
The key move is the pivot from praise to inevitability. “I always knew a major label was the right place” isn’t just preference; it’s destiny talk, the language artists reach for when they need their choices to sound coherent in hindsight. Then he undercuts that confidence with the tell: “I never really had an opportunity to go to an independent label anyway.” That “anyway” is doing heavy lifting, smuggling in a concession that the market, not just the muse, determined the route.
In the late-90s/early-2000s ecosystem Crosby came up in, “major label” signaled resources, radio, and legitimacy, while “indie” signaled credibility and creative autonomy. His quote tries to have it both ways: loyal to Elektra, insulated from accusations of selling out, and quietly absolved of agency if the deal looks compromising. The subtext is a musician bargaining with the era’s moral economy of authenticity: if the major-label path was always “right,” and the indie path was never available, then no one gets to accuse him of choosing wrong.
The key move is the pivot from praise to inevitability. “I always knew a major label was the right place” isn’t just preference; it’s destiny talk, the language artists reach for when they need their choices to sound coherent in hindsight. Then he undercuts that confidence with the tell: “I never really had an opportunity to go to an independent label anyway.” That “anyway” is doing heavy lifting, smuggling in a concession that the market, not just the muse, determined the route.
In the late-90s/early-2000s ecosystem Crosby came up in, “major label” signaled resources, radio, and legitimacy, while “indie” signaled credibility and creative autonomy. His quote tries to have it both ways: loyal to Elektra, insulated from accusations of selling out, and quietly absolved of agency if the deal looks compromising. The subtext is a musician bargaining with the era’s moral economy of authenticity: if the major-label path was always “right,” and the indie path was never available, then no one gets to accuse him of choosing wrong.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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