March 14, 2011

JBJ slams Steve Jobs of Apple for "killing" the music business

From contactmusic.com. Yikes!

I think this is a bit strong (and harsh) of Jon. I get what he's saying, but I grew up with CDs and cassette tapes and even though I use an iPod primarily now, I still love shopping for music in a real store. And the experience of putting in the headphones and getting lost in the music? I do it daily. The music business was going to change, Jon - it went from vinyl to 8-tracks to casettes and discs first. Naturally its going to progress to digital copy at one point or another. Its the 21st century.

Article:
"Jon Bon Jovi has taken aim at Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, accusing him of "killing" the music industry with iTunes.

The rocker is saddened that children no longer enjoy the "magical" experience of buying records in a high street store because of the ease of downloading individual tracks onto an iPod.

And he lays the blame for the generational shift in music-buying at the feet of technology mogul Jobs.

Bon Jovi tells The Sunday Times Magazine, "Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it.

"God, it was a magical, magical time. I hate to sound like an old man now, but I am, and you mark my words, in a generation from now people are going to say: 'What happened?'. Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business.""
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

4 comments:

Melissa M. said...

Good for you! I agree - a bit harsh, Jon. "Personally responsible for
killing the music business"???? Come on! Being sad and nostalgic for what
used to be is a part of getting older. But even I have to admit that the
music business has been HELPED by the advances that Jobs and others have
helped bring to the table. It's fun to remember putting the old vinyls on
the turntable and hoping you don't scratch the surface. But, believe me,
the modern world has improved on that whole thing! Jon should be grateful
that new technology has allowed everyone to take their favorite music WITH
THEM where ever they go. We used to be at the mercy of the radio stations
and whatever music they decided to play.

Me thinks he doth protest too much. Modern technology has probably helped
him to become the multimillionaire that he is.

ANN said...

I too am glad I can take music anywhere now but I get what he is saying. The music biz is suffering because younger people would much rather download the song(s) they like than buy the whole album. In his opinion kids are missing out on the experience of hearing the whole album & maybe falling in love with more than what is being played on the radio. Perhaps he could have worded it differently? At any rate he is pretty headstrong so that's probably what he meant.

Anonymous said...

If he really feels that strongly about it, why was the Greatest Hits album offered for sale as a digital download (in which you *could* choose to download only the songs you wanted) as well as on CD?

That being said, I *can* understand what he's saying, even if it is a bit harsh.

Genie P

Becky said...

Thanks for all your comments. I can certainly see where he's coming from, and I get the "I'm an old man now" thing - the nostalgia of the old magic is definitely not around anymore. But that's just it - it's nostalgia. Slamming Jobs with such harsh accusations is not only strong-headed, but dangerously out of line. I'm actually studying libel in my media law class for journalism, and this has the makings of a libel case. Jon better be careful.