Commenting on the impact of the world wide web on the music industry, the rock legend sounds the alarm bells.
“There aren’t going to be any record labels in a few years if things carry on the way they are, because CDs – that industry is pretty much all over,” he says. “And because there’s no replacement right now that’s viable, it just means no one’s going to invest in music, which just means no-one is going to get tour support, record deals, publishing deals, all the rest, which is how every band since The Beatles have managed to get going initially. That feels like that this sort of parasitical medium will basically kill the host, which would not be good.”
Of course The Edge has his views on illegal downloading: “You’re never going to stamp it out totally, and in some ways I don’t think anyone cares as long as the majority of transactions on the Internet involve some sort of a fair payment to the people who have put their life into the work, and the companies that support them… It’s not even that important, relatively, for us, but for bands that are coming up.”
Asked whether the telecoms have “gotten away with murder”, Edge agrees. “I think they have. I think that they are distanced enough that they can hold up their hands and say, ‘It’s not us. We’re not doing anything’. But in the end, people are buying broadband access in order to get ‘stuff’, content of some sort… I think that the people who have been making it their life’s work to create that content have got a reason to be upset… for young groups, it’s important that this gets resolved.”
The content of this article is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ………….If the Music DIES ( so goes our planet) We may as well take a Torch and burn it down
this would be good for local talent for they would be whom everyone would turn to , I think what you will see is the need for a monopoly by music companies die off people will go out to see bands in clubs and smaller venues , I guess this is bad if you want to be a millionaire rock star ..
dont be silly, dont listen to edge, he is much better off just playing his ax and keeping his mouth shut. There have been billions of dollars generated in this industry, do you really think the investors and such will let it all slip away ?? not in America where the money always matters more than the music.
Music will never die. Now artist can create their own fan base using social media such as You Tube, Facebook, and Myspace. They are able to put their music to download on itunes, and on top of that, they are able to hold concert, and make money from ticket and t-shirts. We need to cut out the middle man which are known as the record labels. Just let the artists handle their own rise to fame.