Bryan Adams goes the independent route

Canadian rocker Bryan Adams has some words of widsom for his younger musicians as he prepares for the self-funded release of his 11th studio album in America - take control of your music.

Best known for smash hits like (Everything I Do) I Do It For You and Summer of '69, Adams said he has not been signed to a record label in the United States for more than four years - and loves the freedom. "I really recommend it to most artists to take control of their music if they can," the rocker-turned-photographer said in an interview for "Hear The World," an exhibition of his celebrity photos to promote awareness of hearing loss that opened recently in New York on Friday. "It's really time for artists to take control of what they're doing and appreciate what it takes to move forward," said Adams. "I really didn't understand how much went on behind the scenes in promoting a record."

With several new artists having hits without the backing of a major record label, Adams said he believes independence "is what the music business is coming to."

Although Adams is still signed to the Universal Music Group internationally, his new album, 11, which debuted in the top 10 in 11 countries -- including No. 6 in Britain -- will be released in the US exclusively through retail giant Wal-Mart on May 13. (In a similar move, The Eagles release their two-disc Long Road Out Of Eden through Wal-Mart. That album has already sold over three million copies in the States.)

"I know already that we're better off here doing it myself than when I was with a label," Adams said of his plan to release 11 without major-label backing. "There's four times the interest just by doing it ourselves because we're creating our own buzz."

Of his new record, Adams said his sales pitch is simple: "It's another Bryan Adams album. If you have liked any of the other ones, then you will probably like this one. Same singer, a lot of the same musicians."

By Joe Bosso