Hanson’s Taylor Hanson – HuffPost 4.6.11

Mike Ragogna: You’ve taken your careers into your own hands and that’s applaudable, and you’re selling these huge amounts of records by self-promoting. It seems like artists should be using you guys as the paradigm.

Taylor Hanson: What we’ve said is if you’re really passionate about the music, you will take on the business so you can make the music you want–not in a way that’s like I’m going to sit alone in my closet and be artist and make art for the sake of it, just understanding that you kind of have to know what your business is to save the art, which is kind of the irony. I will say that if people want to follow the Hanson model, you need to not like sleep very much and you need to be really comfortable right on the edge of, “Are we going to loose our shirts?” or “Are we going to listen to the opinions that say this is too hard or this isn’t plausible?” I think the truth is, every great business risk is a part of the game. I think in our business, a lot of people know that. I would say a lot of artists are already closer to taking risks. There are a lot more soon-to-be entrepreneurs from the artist world than some people might think. Risk is a part of the game if you’re an artist.

MR: This is like advice to new artists, isn’t it.

TH: A little bit, I try not to throw around advice too much. If you’re willing to know your business, you can protect your art. That’s the only way to keep what you do alive, by embracing that. You can’t turn a blind eye and hope your handlers can help you out and make sure it works. You have to be right in there and know what’s going on.