Bon Jovi Blames Steve Jobs For Ruining Music Industry

[robanga]

Really? So how did he have the top grossing touring act 2 years out of the past 3?

I'm a HUGE Bon Jovi fan so this thread kills me. He likes to be over dramatic. I feel him in a way even though I am half his age. I too miss the days of running to the store and buying something tangible with pictures and lyrics. It's just not the same to me - buying some digital copy. I'll also miss books when they're no longer produced. Who do I blame for that, Amazon?

100 years after the automobile, 130 years after mass use of trains there is still a thriving but smaller horse industry. I do not think you will need to worry about books going away in your lifetime. Book stores? that's another issue. You may have to buy them all online.

 

[iVeBeenDrinkin']

If music is good, people will buy it. There, Jon, I said it. He's just upset because he fooled everyone in to buying his crappy records in the 80's and 90's. As I type this, I am listening to GN'R, now there's a real band. If you are interested in a band, you'll surf the web, or even go to record shops to get photos and records of them. The experience isn't dead, it's just different, and bands that aren't good, and never were, are the ones getting left behind. BTW, maybe he can make some $ in arena football this year?

 

[Music_Producer]

Yes people would rather have free every time. But when you are sold an album that is either 6 songs or 12 and the price is the same and most of the songs suck why should I pay so much for it?

Then buy singles or compilation albums. I used to buy 'mix' albums which had different songs (remember the 'now thats what i call music' series?)

When I first heard 'Sweet Lullaby' by Deep Forest, I rushed out and bought the entire album (was probably $25 back then) on cd.. I *still* have that cd and I must have listened to all the tracks over a million times.

Sure there are some songs that I don't necessary like more than the others but you really can't expect an album to have 12 smash songs. You might like those 6 songs, someone else might like the entire album. Heck I would buy an entire album even if I had never heard 95% of the stuff on it! That's just me though

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I blame Bon Jovi for ruining music.

 

[OllyW]

Being the same age as Mr. Jovi, I too have fond memories of buying albums with at least 7 or 8 good songs and 2 or 3 throwaways. Sadly, around the time of the CD, all we got were 2 or 3 good songs and 7-8 throwaways, much like Mr. Jovi's back catalog.

I do give him credit for tying it to Steve Jobs as it guarantees him press coverage.

I agree.

Back in the 80s I was paying between £4-£6 for new vinyl LPs. When CDs came out they started selling them for £10-£15, stating that it was new technology and CDs were really expensive to make but the price would drop as soon as the new manufacturing plants came on line.

What really happened was the price of CDs stayed the same and the price of vinyl went up to same level as CDs (accelerating the decline of vinyl). At the same time the manufacturing plants were all set up and running and the cost of making a CD dropped to mere pennies, meaning the record company's profits soared.

When people started downloading off the internet the music industry panicked put all it's effort into stopping it, including bringing in ridiculous anti-copy mechanisms which only inconvenienced their customers who were still buying CDs. By the time they realised there was actually big money to be made from selling downloads, Apple had already put themselves into a dominant position from which they have become a market leader.

It isn't Apple's fault. It's the greed and short sighted views of the record industry (and major artists like Bon Jovi who were happy raking in the millions) who are to blame for ruining the music industry.

 

[kalsta]

I also blame Thomas Edison for ruining the kerosene lantern industry and the sheet music industry.

Good point. But don't forget Joseph Swan! Poor old Joseph Swan, the Xerox PARC of the light bulb story.

He left out the part when he walked 10 hours in the snow everyday.

lol!

But I guess it also falls on the listener. The option is still there to go out and buy music in physical form, to put it on, sit back and get lost in the music. But we don't do that anymore because it's disposable background noise.

Speak for yourself. I still do that when a certain piece of music moves me, and I don't see what it has to do with holding album art in your hands. I'm sure people got lost in the music of Beethoven long before offset printing and album covers!

 

[eRondeau]

I blame Jon for ruining the 80's.

 

[sushi]

Purchasing music via iTunes is wonderful. Can easily listen then chose what you want.

However, I remember the vinyl days when records were made to be listened to from front to end, both A and B side. It was an experience to be enjoyed with no interruptions and simply listening where the song took you. Fun times. And saving up for your favorite record was part of the process that brought enjoyment. The album artwork was part of the enjoyment. I think back fondly of some albums I had from Boston, Styx, Kansas, LZ, King Krimson, Blue Oyster Cult, etc.

Then came the CD. Wonderful invention. Purchased most vinyl on CD. A smaller easier to use format, but the album artwork suffered a bit since it was small.

Then came the crappy CDs. I was extremely happy when 2 songs on a CD were good. And looking back on it, I actually purchased some CDs with only 1 song. Those days were not fun.

And now we have iTunes. Test it. DL it. Play it. Done. Sync on multiple computers/iPad/iPhones/iPod touch. Only purchased the songs that you want. And for some, you can get the music video as well. So I DL the song and the music video.

I would say that I am in Hog Heaven right now!

 

[mscriv]

I'm a Bon Jovi fan who grew up listening to their music. I understand where he's coming from, but in truth this is nothing more than the romanticized recollections of an older, wealthy person. Sure, when your a millionaire it's easy to reflect back on the "good ole days" and get nostalgic about buying albums in the local record shop. But, when you grew up cash poor and couldn't afford that $17.99 CD from Tower Records the memories aren't so good.

The system has changed and if you want to blame someone, I would say you point the finger at Shawn Fanning and Napster rather than Steve Jobs and iTunes. The way music is made, purchased, and enjoyed today is a completely different process than the way it was in the 70's and 80's.

 

[entatlrg]

boo hoo pretty boy bon jovi upset

Right on Steve !!

 

[Naimfan]

Greed is what ruined the music industry. In the desperate search to find bands that would sell immediately, record companies pushed dreadful music which people bought because they weren't given any other choice.

 

[JoeG4]

Sounds to me like Bon Jovi (who is this moron anyway?) misses the record profits he used to get when people bought his music buy the album.

 

[dXTC]

Greed is what ruined the music industry. In the desperate search to find bands that would sell immediately, record companies pushed dreadful music which people bought because they weren't given any other choice.

Emphasis mine (astute observation, Naimfan). A&R budgets were slashed in the name of profits, so yes, labels turned heavily toward instantly marketable bands and solo artists, even if only by image. They didn't have the funding or the desire to help new artists develop, so they dropped them for the next "flavor of the month" act instead.

This, along with the DIY distribution and promotion possibilities of the Internet and ever-cheaper recording technology that allows a spare bedroom to rival a professional studio in sound quality, fostered a resurgence in the independent music scene. Artists no longer have to depend on the major labels to get their music heard-- and the majors have been in freak-out mode ever since.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Lots of criticism of the music industry. However, what many seem to also forget is that back in the 60s, 70s and early 80s, there also wasn't much choice for teenagers and young adults to spend their disposable income on. Couldn't buy computer games or movies, for instance. Computer game arcades were just starting to take off.

Biggest weekly purchase I could make in the late 70s to mid 80s was for a new LP on vinyl or maybe a paperback, unless saving up for something.

 

[rhett7660]

His label sells them on iTunes, not sure if he has a choice.

I would think he has a choice. Look at AC/DC and Kid Rock. They still refuse to put there albums on iTunes. Unless of course something has changed with them. But to be fair, I think they didn't want to because of the Music Label's getting such a huge cut of the profits.

 

[takao]

Lots of criticism of the music industry. However, what many seem to also forget is that back in the 60s, 70s and early 80s, there also wasn't much choice for teenagers and young adults to spend their disposable income on. Couldn't buy computer games or movies, for instance. Computer game arcades were just starting to take off.

Biggest weekly purchase I could make in the late 70s to mid 80s was for a new LP on vinyl or maybe a paperback, unless saving up for something.

add mobile phones to that list
fact is that never before so much media-content was readily available not only online but even in stores
and even books, magazines etc. ! here in the german language market there is actually more released than ever before in that regard

DVDs/games/mobilephones take a massive chunk of money out of the music market just like they did with the movie theather market

 

[63dot]

Bon Jovi has a point in how cool it was to buy an artist's release (especially vinyl), but he can't blame any single person for the MP3 era.

Just like 8-track tapes, as cool as they were not having to flip them over in a car, the album (and cassette, then CD) would find their way to the history books as something that was great for their era.

One day, and I have no idea what, something will replace what we recognize as iPods and the iTunes store as the next cool thing for kids to buy.

The thing about Jon Bon Jovi is that he takes himself too seriously. When he was talking to the TODAY show about his band and how hard they worked as a team, he said they are like a football team and he is like their quarterback. Please, Jon. It doesn't shock me that he's the latest over the hill baby boomer "speaking" for the record industry like a similar ego, Lar Ulrich of Metallica (drummer and self-appointed manager and mixdown engineer), was not long ago regarding the new technology.

 

[rdowns]

One day, and I have no idea what, something will replace what we recognize as iPods and the iTunes store as the next cool thing for kids to buy.

Where have you been, dude? They're called the iPhone and iPad.

 

[63dot]

Where have you been, dude? They're called the iPhone and iPad.

You know I have thought about a Verizon iPhone. I don't use cameras on cell phones and I don't have any need for internet browsing, but the idea of music isn't that bad and instead of buying iPod, the iPhone seems like a much more worthy option. How much music could an iPhone 4 carry on it?

 

[balamw]

How much music could an iPhone 4 carry on it?

They come in 16 and 32 GB versions for VZ, AT&T also has the 8 GB 3GS. Most of that space is available for music.

Note that iOS version 4.3 added support for Home Sharing, so when you are home anything you have in iTunes can be listened to on your iPhone. VZ iPhones are still on 4.2.6 though.

B

 

[63dot]

They come in 16 and 32 GB versions for VZ, AT&T also has the 8 GB 3GS. Most of that space is available for music.

Note that iOS version 4.3 added support for Home Sharing, so when you are home anything you have in iTunes can be listened to on your iPhone. VZ iPhones are still on 4.2.6 though.

B

thanks guys

I know I got off topic. I have AT&T with my moto RAZR and it does the job pretty well but I had better reception with Verizon. If I go over, then it may make sense to go with smartphone, and if smartphone (and its music storage and listening capability), then iPhone 4 seems like a good option.

Right now I pay $110. a month for two RAZRs and a regular phone line from AT&T and I know I am probably spending too much with the more high tech options out there. It just may not make sense to have the two moto RAZRs, my regular phone line, and then go out and buy an iPod. The fewer high tech things I have and still get by, the better.

I still very much like CDs and there's something to be said for buying the CD for a song or two but then growing to like the whole album/release in its context. I recently bought the "Le Noise" CD by Neil Young and it's a great eight songs to listen to from beginning to end.