Iggy Pop Lectures The Music Industry – 3 Takeaways

Iggy Pop gave the annual John Peel lecture at the UK Radio Festival on Monday calling the the music industry “laughably, maybe, almost entirely pirate.” He blamed in part electronic devices that had “estranged people from their morals, making it easier to steal music than to pay for it”.  

The Guardian provides the 3 top takeaways from the speech:

• "The record companies are almost always out to get you for everything you’ve got. Even the ones you think are great will eventually sell you out to someone who doesn’t care about you. And the ones who once offered you a great deal will snap you up for cheap when you’re at a low ebb."

• "It serves the record companies right that they’re now getting screwed in the digital age, because they took advantage of artist and consumer alike when the had the power. There are good guys in the record industry, but they’re the ones who are running labels of love. Equally, though, there are indie labels just as unscrupulous as the worst major."

• "Many of the most exciting developments in music have come from outside the system. Some of the best Stooges records were bootlegs, not official recordings. It’s not bad to offer choice. What’s bad is to steal, so no one has to pay the artist for anything anymore. The “computer Putins” want to get rich and powerful for themselves, not to help you."