The world isn't all happy, shiny people, and great art doesn't come from vanilla. Great art comes from people with a point of view and are very passionate.
— Scott Borchetta
When I started the label, I stopped racing. Even though I have a better chance of getting hurt walking outside and falling down the stairs, if I had gotten injured on the racetrack, people would be going, 'What is this guy doing?' So I had to grow up a little bit.
In 1985, I went to work for MTM Records, Mary Tyler Moore's Nashville record label, and stayed three years. After that, I spent two years as an independent promoter, then worked for MCA Nashville Records, DreamWorks Nashville, and Universal Music Nashville.
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California in the 1970s. My friends and I were into bicycle motocross and into skateboarding in empty swimming pools. Those activities shaped my generation.
What's on the edge? What's next? That's where I think I do my best work - if I push my whole team to the edge.
I go by the rule of Gretzky: you gotta be there before the puck gets there, or you're going to get beat.
It doesn't matter if it's social media or radio media or television media - it's all media, and it's all marketing. It's about understanding where your fans are. And when you have infiltrated them, and they're satisfied, and there's demand, how do you grow it from there?
The nicest thing that my friends who've known me for 15 or 20 years say to me is, 'Man, it's crazy that you're the same guy.' It's like, 'Which guy did you expect me to be?'
Auto racing has been a big part of my life since I was very young. When the car feels right, it's like, 'We've got a big machine.'
I'm not a politically correct person.
I grew up in Southern California, so there is just a part of me that is a Hollywood rocker.
I attended College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif., for a year, but college wasn't for me. I was curious about life beyond Los Angeles.
The last thing we want is for radio to say that they can't afford to play our artists and turn off the pipe.
If we don't have great music, we're not any company.
I don't want to worry about someone calling me and going, 'You better find a way to get another Taylor Swift record out this quarter.' When there's that kind of financial pressure dictating your path, it's hard to take creative risks.
The reality of recording, it's one of the most intimate things that an artist ever does because if you do it right, you're exposing yourself, and you're expressing your emotions, and those are the key attributes to a big record that really connect with people.
Part of the mission of Nash Icon is taking away some of the day-to-day, hand-to-hand combat that you have to do to continue the mainstream country-radio relationship.
If you think back to the beginning of the label, we knew we had to strike quickly and aggressively and go for the brass ring.
I'm being myself when the camera is rolling.
When you break an artist, you learn a lot.
My father was in record promotion in Los Angeles. He worked for Mercury Records, Capitol Records, and RCA Records. My parents divorced when I was about 9. In 1978, my dad moved to Nashville and opened an independent record promotion company, Mike Borchetta Promotions.
There's no reason people should be hungry in our country. It's not acceptable.
Season 1 of CTV's 'The Launch' exceeded our wildest expectations!
I think when we do our job right, our artists don't sound like anybody else. I have a real hard time with voices that sound like other big voices.
It's such a loud world out there, so it's important to be able to be ubiquitous across formats.
For the label to grow, it has to have great executives who understand the culture, understand the mission, and can lead. I don't want to be part of every decision.
You can have all personality in the world, the looks, etc., but if you don't have the songs, it doesn't close the deal.
