>>>Is Whitney's death a suicide now? I really haven't kept following the story. The last I heard was she was found underwater in the bathtub.
>>
>>I'd call signing up with a record label a delayed suicide, with a few chances along the way to sign out while you still can. It's not for everybody.
>
>Oh, come on. Premature deaths of musicians are actually quite rare. They just always get a firestorm of attention.

Yes, like, every time after time and again, eh?

I'm not talking about the regular guys/gals who stay in the business a dozen years and then do something else, or who just find something to do in the business but don't do long tours, don't feel like publishing a new album every year and generally don't have a contract forcing them to do so. I'm talking about those who are pushed into the high life, acquire expensive habits and then somehow owe a lot to their label/contract/lawyers/whoever. I've read enough stories of how that goes, from musicians' keyboards, and heard a few in person. It's a highly refined form of extortion. Pushing one over the edge (and then blame the suicide on the favorite abusable substance) is easy to get away with, and is good for business.