Music executive Simon Cowell explains his approach to A&R and talent evaluation despite having no formal musical training.
0:00 / 0:23exact quote · 23.4s
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“What I never did, though, I never tried to pretend that I could produce a record or be a musician, because I couldn't, I can't produce records.
I can't play instruments.
I don't know what note anyone's any,
Singing it, whether it's C, B, D, or G, I have no idea.
So I only, I base everything I ever do based on, do I like it?”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading:
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Disclosure
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Disclosure
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