hey, i want to get into the business for the business aspect of it...is that naive on my part?

NOT AT ALL! Smart, really!

I love music and i love numbers and ofcourse, everyone loves money...i feel like the music industry is the perfect career for me. but do execs have lives?

Depends what kind of exec you want to be -- A&R (the cats who select and fashion artists) are BUSY but they have their life too. Thing is that it's a high risk job. Save a lot of money while you do this (in case you get fired for making one too many unprofitable picks - not that you would - just it's a really transitional and hard to keep job) and also learn other areas of the label. If you have a good work history but are not hot in A&R, the co may agree to transfer you if you are stellar in another area.

is it a long career or can it be cut short with age?
If you are a music business person with a positive attitude and lots of knowledge and can network well, you will be an old lady with it. Look at Quincy Jones and Berry Gordie. Among many others. Walter Yetnikoff is up there and Clive Davis too. But you have to perservere and expose yourself to lots of different settings and be willing to do coffee runs. Sit in on sessions if you can. Make friends with a studio cat in the City.

as a woman, will i be respected if i'm married or with kids one day?

I sure as hell hope so! I am 29 and not married yet and I'm not working for a label. But fair employment protects you - if you are full time you'd get the maternity benefit. Don't become a workaholic and don't neglect the kids - work half time if you must. But if you are in R&B and Hip Hop, and Gospel, my experience has shown that family is important - I have never met anyone in this camp that doesn't respect family. I'm sure they exist but ... Just prove yourself slowly, steadily. My friend Wendy was married with kids and was a successful attorney for a major label too. It's more than possible.

whats the real deal in the music industry...is it serious in terms of being educated?

I think it's BETTER if you are educated IN music business but a business degree or law degree will give you the foundation. The rest comes as a specialty. So either way is fine. Major in business and you are straight! Read some of the books I mentioned here and get LOTS of field experience. And, you can email me anytime if you have specific questions along the way. And remember, half the cats who are in the game learned by rote, so that's possible too - just takes longer.

I'm currently at Colgate University in upstate NY, but live in NYC in the summers and have grown up here...and i'm also wondering what major I should pursue and what kind of internships i can get? (as a younger college student-since most of the good ones go to juniors and seniors) I was thinking economics...political science (liberal arts college)...

Don't go this route - Business is the best route to take - econ is only one sliver. It's the marketing, statistics, business principles, accounting, and more that make it tick. At Berklee they have those plus specific courses (Record Company Operations, Publishing, Legal Aspects, Contract Negotiation, Concert and Venue Promotion, Music Intermediaries, Creative Promotion thru Media.)

Hook up with some studio cats, go to sessions. See how it works. Ask your internship coordinator for an internship IN the dept. that you want to work in. I have linked careers in music business from Berklee's site so you can see what's possible for you. And keep your head up :)

GO TO THIS LINK
http://www.berklee.edu/careers/mbm.html


...i'm just rambling, but i hope you get my point. fill me in.
I talk forever - no worries!