How Claiming Creative Control Helps Women Musicians Stay The Course
Tori Amos made her major-label debut not with her landmark album Little Earthquakes, but with an embarrassingly cheesy hair-metal album, Y Kant Tori Read. It was 1988, albums by Bon Jovi and Poison were selling like crazy and Atlantic Records — Amos' label at the time — wanted her to try something similar. It was a massive flop, but Amos came out of it with the chance to fight for the piano-driven music she had wanted to make all along.
Atlantic relented, and Amos' next two albums — 1992's and 1994's — were strong sellers that cemented her identity as a quirky, inventive songwriter with incredible musical chops. Behind the scenes, Amos took greater control of the business side of her career, too. She has retained the publishing rights to her songs since her early recording days. She recorded in far-off places like a hacienda in New Mexico and a church in Ireland. And, after feuds with
