Skip to main content

Creativity Quote by Jon Secada

"My intention when I came into this industry was to be a musician, not necessarily a recording artist, just a musician in general. And that's the reason I went to college and got my degree, which has been great for me. It's helped me a lot with my career"

About this Quote

Secada is drawing a careful line between being a musician and being a product. In a business that loves to collapse identity into market category, he insists on a broader self-definition: not the “recording artist” whose worth is measured by chart placement and brand deals, but the working musician whose craft lives in theory, arrangement, performance, collaboration. It’s a subtle flex, because it re-centers authority where the industry often pretends it doesn’t exist: training, discipline, and competence.

The college detail does two things at once. On the surface, it’s practical reassurance that education wasn’t a detour. Underneath, it’s a rebuttal to the myth that pop success is either raw destiny or pure hustle. Secada’s phrasing suggests he entered the machine with an exit plan already built in: a degree as leverage, as literacy in the language of music, as protection against the whims of labels, trends, and gatekeepers. “It’s helped me a lot with my career” reads like understatement; in this world, formal knowledge can mean control over your own sound, negotiating power in the studio, and longevity when radio moves on.

Context matters: Secada emerged in an era when “Latin crossover” was often treated as a marketing lane more than a musical identity, and when vocalists could be boxed into frontman roles while producers and arrangers held the real steering wheel. His insistence on being “a musician in general” is a claim to the steering wheel - and to the long game.

Quote Details

TopicCareer
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Secada, Jon. (2026, January 15). My intention when I came into this industry was to be a musician, not necessarily a recording artist, just a musician in general. And that's the reason I went to college and got my degree, which has been great for me. It's helped me a lot with my career. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-intention-when-i-came-into-this-industry-was-158747/

Chicago Style
Secada, Jon. "My intention when I came into this industry was to be a musician, not necessarily a recording artist, just a musician in general. And that's the reason I went to college and got my degree, which has been great for me. It's helped me a lot with my career." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-intention-when-i-came-into-this-industry-was-158747/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My intention when I came into this industry was to be a musician, not necessarily a recording artist, just a musician in general. And that's the reason I went to college and got my degree, which has been great for me. It's helped me a lot with my career." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-intention-when-i-came-into-this-industry-was-158747/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Jon Add to List
Jon Secada on Craft Over Fame and Music Education
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Jon Secada

Jon Secada (born October 4, 1962) is a Musician from Cuba.

25 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes