I was never supposed to get a record deal - that's one in…

You expect certain things. You build up in your mind how it's supposed to go down. When you get a record deal, you think…

— Lupe Fiasco

If you don't have a record deal, you've got to be a record company.

— Mary Gauthier

A record deal is my dream.

— Dinah Jane

“He was supposed to record in the studio this afternoon, and pow—he gets shot. This fuckin’ album is cursed, I tell you.”

— Olivia Cunning

When you get your first record deal, you will do anything, because you just want to sing.

— Joss Stone

A record deal doesn't make you an artist; you make yourself an artist.

— Lady Gaga

Before I had a record deal, I was living in New York and playing anywhere I could, from somebody's house to an open mic…

— Langhorne Slim

When you get a record deal, you got to be pretty headstrong, know your direction.

— Martie Maguire

I always said, if I got a record deal, I'd want to record the best songs I could, whether I wrote them or not.

— Cole Swindell

It was a lot easier to write songs before I had a record deal, because the record labels and the industry doesn't mean to…

— Ashton Shepherd

I've had a record deal before and I was willing to do whatever they wanted me to do and I thought that would be…

— Jeff Gutt

I never thought in my wildest dreams I'd ever be offered a record deal, and to get a Christmas No. 1 would be huge…

— Chris Kamara

I advise wannabe singers to form a band, practise in your garage if you have to, but do as many charity or open mic…

— Bonnie Tyler

It's difficult for them to do a deal at these levels.

— Lakshmi Mittal

“Duty is a done deal.”

— Lailah Gifty Akita