Gloria Estefan – HuffPost 9.4.13

Mike Ragogna: Given that, what is your advice for new artists?

Gloria Estefan: Oh, my God! You know, especially now, it is so tough for them because they are facing a time where it’s a singles-related thing and people’s attention span is so short, it’s tough to develop a career. All I tell artists is do what you love. Never let anybody talk you into changing what your musical idea is just to try to get a hit, because you’re chasing your tail that way. It’s not going to happen, and if you’re successful, you have to do it the rest of your life. Stay true to it and do it for the sake of the art. Ben Franklin, I think, would be very happy in these times. He thought that inventions and music, all that kind of thing, should be free to the world and that’s practically what we’re facing right now. So he’d be happy. It’s tough for intellectual property and people that write, but if you’re an artist, you’re going to do it because you love it and because you want to share it. Always continue to do art for the sake of doing it and then hope that it goes well and that you can make a living out of it. But it really should be about sharing your musical dream and what you feel and putting out there to the universe some beautiful music that will become part of people’s lives.