Music was my first love
From 1997 until 2003 I worked as a singer, songwriter and performer. I guess I was one of the first pop artists to sell my music worldwide through the internet. A long time before music platforms such as Napster and Kazaa became famous, I had already started to market my music through the world wide web.
These days, I know everyone sells his or her music through iTunes and other online music stores but back then this was really a revolutionary idea. In the year 2000 for example, there were more than 25,000 downloads on my website every month and I scored three No.1 hits on MP3.com (which was a really cool platform back then).
I did a lot of TV show performances, concerts and recording sessions back then. It was a really exciting time! I even got to perform on an open air festival in front of 8,000 people in my own hometown with artists such as 'N Sync (with Justin Timberlake), Germany's pop sensation Blümchen or DJ Quicksilver.
During that time I recorded two studio albums and a "best of"-compilation album was later released by my record company. I wrote most of the songs myself together with some great people from all over the world, such as ASCAP award winner Jon Gilbert Leavitt or the German producer team Klarmann/Weber (who previously worked with Chaka Khan, LaToya Jackson or La Bouche). One of the last things I did was contributing one song to the charity album "Voyces United for UNHCR". Together with other artists I sang for the the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which protects and supports refugees at the request of a government or the United Nations and assists in their return or resettlement.
I have to say that it was a really exciting time and I don't regret any minute of it. In 2003 I decided to quit the music business for a while. I don't know whether I'll be recording a new album in the future. Never say never - but there are more important things in my life right now.
I wanted to keep this MySpace profile up because I have met so many wonderful people here. I left one song in my profile - a song that is still very dear to me, entitled "Can't Hurry The Harvest," which I co-wrote with my good friend Rodney Ronquillo from Canada.
For more information on what I'm doing these days, please visit my website (and my weblog, if you're interested in animal rights) at www.jamiestevens.com
