SLASH On Music Business: 'It's A Tough Industry, And It Gets Tougher And Tougher As The Years Go By'

In a recent interview with New Zealand's Bayrock FM, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash was asked what piece of advice he would give to new artists who are looking to get into the music industry.

"I get asked this a lot, and I always try to come up with a very optimistic piece of advice for young people," he said (hear audio below). "It's a tough industry, and it gets tougher and tougher as the years go by, as far as I'm concerned. But the thing about it is just to be dedicated and persevere — to put the time in, work hard at it and to stick to your guns and to do what it is that really turns you on musically. Don't conform to other people's… what they tell you to do, or what they tell you to play, or how to play, or what kind of music to do, whatever the industry standard is. Don't compromise, and do your own thing."

He continued: "The most important thing about being a musician is to love the music and to put your heart and soul into that and to do whatever it takes to be able to communicate that to other people. And it's an interesting industry at the moment, because there's no set rules right now, how to do [things]. There used to a path you could follow, and it was pretty tried and true. Now, it's all over the place, so you have to be a lot smarter about how you do it and come up with different ways of doing it that other people aren't using already. It's definitely sort of like the Wild West. But there's a lot of platforms out there now that didn't exist when I started out that you can get exposure on and get your music out there and so on and so forth. I think the most important thing is passion and dedication."

Earlier this year, Slash told the Australia radio station Triple M that the success of Michigan rockers GRETA VAN FLEET is "opening the doors for a lot of young, new" rock bands who are "doing this for the right reasons." He explained: "It's not about getting on MTV, it's not about fame and stardom, it's not about Learjets and chicks, 'cause none of that shit [exists in the music industry] anymore. It's all about the music and it's about the passion of just doing whatever it takes to be able to get your music out in front of people. So I'm really inspired about what's gonna be happening over the next two, three to five years, and coming out new music-wise."

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS' latest album, "Living The Dream", was released last September via Slash's own label Snakepit Records, in partnership with Roadrunner Records.