Hall of Famer Linda Perry on what's lacking in the music industry
"There's a lot of artists that are celebrities," not musicians, she said.
— -- Hall of Fame songwriter Linda Perry wants all the fakers in the music business to kindly make their exit.
The businesswoman, who has helped launch the careers of dozens of artists and has written songs for the likes of Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and Pink, says what's lacking in the industry are true musicians.
I'm a songwriter, an artist and a musician, I do not have to try to be that, I just am," she told ABC News. "There's a lot of artists that are celebrities, not really artists. And there's a lot of kids trying to emulate these artists."
Perry, 52, says there are "lots of kids who think they should be signed because they wrote a song in their bedroom and got 100,000 hits on YouTube."
But the former 4 Non Blondes singer says there's hope on the horizon.
"The ones that are in it for the wrong reasons will start beauty lines and do other things to cash in," she said. "The ones who stay are the ones who don't give a s--- and are here to make music."
With this in mind, Perry is trying to mold a whole new generation of artist, including young talents like 13-year-old Willa Amai, who is signed to her label We Are Hear.
Amai was recently featured in Intuit QuickBooks' "Backing You" campaign, along with a short behind-the-scenes film featuring Perry and Amai in an effort to celebrate small businesses and operations that help build the music industry.
Amai also sang a new version of “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” for the QuickBooks “Backing You” commercial.
"I love that the behind-the-scenes video featured not only Willa, but photographers, engineers, producers, everyone," she said. "You need a big team to support a career."
Perry said Amai writes her own songs, is soulful and just lives to create music.
"She has clear direction and focus on who she is and wants to be," she said. "She's got a whole little clan of friends, they are musos and smart too. A new breed of artists. These kids don't care about the money or the fame."
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