L.A. Reid

I'm not a good Samaritan, I'm a businessman... The goal is to read and react. If we sign an artist that has potential for a shelf life way out in the distance, then we'll stay. But if not, then we won't.

We don't sign an artist to fill a void, ever. I'll never find a Taylor Swift. You can't find a new Madonna, you cannot find a Prince, a Bob Marley, a John Lennon. You won't find another Kanye West. We simply deal with people as they walk in, and we say we either love them or we don't.

What I look for when I see a piece of art for the first time is some kind of emotional, intellectual experience, that's a combination of both of those things and is informed by my knowledge and something new that I see the artist doing.

Not many artists or bands go platinum every year, from what people have told me, so it's an honor to have so many fans. A million people, that's a lot of people! Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Justin Timberlake sell a few million, and so hopefully I'll make my way up to that.