David Byrne Talks About The Music Industry

“I think that artists in general can be given more agency regarding what happens to their work. I don’t own my own old recordings, a similar situation to many artists, so I have no say whether they are licensed to YouTube, Spotify, Beats, Apple, you name it, and for what percentage and for how long. If that’s where music consumption is going, much of it is completely out of my control. I do at least control the publishing (which not every artist does) so that gives me a foot in the door: other kinds of licensing — films, TV, etc. — are up to me.

Philosophically, I think the issue is: Do we always do what is best for the consumer in the short run, or do we think more long-term about our culture and quality of life? Is the giant corporation that underprices everyone else — and therefore seduces the consumers by the boatload — necessarily best for our future? And not just for the future of creatives, but of all of us? In France, for example, there are regulations regarding this kind of corporate price-undercutting that protects small bookstores and publishers. As a result, the consumer is more or less forced to pay a base price for a book, but there is a still a culture of bookstores and small publishers. The consumer might have to pay more than they would (for a while, anyway) at Walmart or Amazon, for example, but there can be more diversity and survival for smaller and medium-sized companies and vendors. It’s a trade-off. In musical terms, I think it comes down to this: Do we want to continue to support recording musicians beyond the top handful, or do we want have lives surrounded by creativity of all sorts?”

Source: Billboard