Bon Jovi: Steve Jobs 'Killed The Music Business'

Job Bon Jovi has lashed out at digital music culture and, more specifically, Apple CEO Steve Jobs for "killing the music business".

We recently reported on signs that the option to buy legal single downloads could be impacting US music revenue in this article, but Bon Jovi has a more sentimental observation.

His bone is with the pick n’ mix culture of being able to download single tracks rather than discover a full album as part of a musical adventure, a process many music fans will have fond memories of.

"Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to ten, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album," he elaborated to the Sunday Times, "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".

Thanks to CMU for the report.

Do you agree? Are we better off for the modern convenience and portability of digital music stores, or will current and future generations miss out on the magic of discovery? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Comments

[MegadethFan18]

I'm pretty much the only guy I know that still buys music (CD's) and I agree with JBJ. I love just putting in a brand new album and listening to it all the way through. I also hate that when I actually do meet someone that likes bands that I like the only songs they actually know is songs that have music videos.

[Kazinsal]

*looks at his headphones*
*looks at his stack of Rush on vinyl*
*looks at his record player*
*looks at his age*

"Kids today" indeed.

[punXander]

Bon Jovi must not hear the music of today then. Very rarely have I come across an album these days worth paying my "allowance" money on. A lot of band these days put out total crap. For instance - the new Rise Against album "Endgame" is terrible, complete made-for radio crap. I would only buy a few songs given the choice. The new Social Distortion album "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes" is really good front to back.

I guess it does come down to personal tastes (like all music discussions), but I still think my point is valid. Stop having bands create crap to rush out sales, and focus more on making the music sound great! And if they want to rush out crap, then only expect people like me to only by what would be the best of that crap (ie - only one song).

Steve Jobs didn't kill the music business, he gave us options. Artists and producers did. Start putting more focus on making great albums and we will buy all the songs.

[boris6491]

Very rarely have I come across an album these days worth paying my "allowance" money on.

This is the case with all types of music, particularly pop music where the concept of an album and the way an album has been weaved together no longer exists. Its all about one or two catchy singles off those albums.

Steve Jobs didn't kill the music business, he gave us options.

Totally agree with this as well. iTunes reenergised music sales. With the culture that Jon Bon Jovi describes of 'spending the allowance on albums that we imagine to be good' evaporated and music becoming of less interest to the young generation (the 'internet' generation), Steve Jobs is promoting music to the younger generation, whatever the music may be.

[lefty311]

What a dumb comment by Bon Jovi... Jobs was late to the "download music" party! Itunes launched MANY years after Napster and all the other torrent sites were handing music out for nothing. I still buy albums in stores because I like owning the physical record. At least Itunes is making people pay for the record.

[JBougazelli]

lefty311 :
What a dumb comment by Bon Jovi... Jobs was late to the "download music" party! Itunes launched MANY years after Napster and all the other torrent sites were handing music out for nothing.

Think about this now. There are a lot of people out there that don't use torrent sites, limewire, kazaa for the simple fact that they don't want viruses on there computers. People go to Itunes people they see what they want for 99 cents and then buy it. Also, its ease of use to sync with your phone or mp3 if hooked up. I do agree with Bon Jovi that a lot of people don't buy CDs anymore, and I have always been an album guy.

[BigMikeBDD]

Most albums are garbage. You get two good songs and the rest sucks!! We've been getting ripped off for years by artists when they'd put out a crappy cd just to get a quick buck.

[Salvo416]

Steve Jobs didn't kill the music business, he gave us options. Artists and producers did. Start putting more focus on making great albums and we will buy all the songs.

I agree... if artists and producers put forth effort in every single song on the album then people will buy the CD, which is why I plan to BUY the FOO FIGHTERS CD coming out soon. Not because I'm a big fan of them, but because I know the whole CD is going to be killer.

[powerhouse153]

jbj is totally right

[SlackusMaximus]

I kind of agree with him...I remember getting the CD and reading all the lyrics and looking at the pictures while listening to the album. Today it is different!

[GHO5T616]

bullocks,I have plenty of friends who still collect and regularly play vinyls.JBJ doesn't know shit.

[KnotParkDay]

I'm 16 years old, still buy CDs, and still prefer to listen to a whole album than individual tracks.
You say you there's no music good enough to get a whole album? Look harder. Good albums are still being made.

[JFRules]

Forget CDs I remember my Walkman and my tapes! It is true when you get a great album its nice to listen to it from start to finish. When I was 11 I got AJFA from Metallica and listened to it on the bus magical! lol

[MegadethFan18]

To the people who have come here and said "Albums are crap" Maybe you just don't like music?

[strat0blaster]

Soudns a lot like he's just pissed about people not buying his albums for a couple good songs and a bunch of fluff.

And just to correct, file sharing was happening before Steve Jobs put iTunes out, so you can't really blame him.

[TommySixx]

I will always listen to a whole album over a few tracks. However, I think the music business needs to look at itself properly. From the bands that play it to the corporations that run it. Everything is so focused on the quality of the sound and technology that less time is spent on the song writing side. I don't know whether it's lack of inspiration or just following a trend or what. Bands put out an album every 3-4 years these days but look back during the 70s/80s where bands would put out classics within a year or 2!

AC/DC released:
Highway to Hell 1979
Back in Black 1980
For Those About To Rock 1981

Metallica released:
Ride The Lightning - 1984
Master of Puppets - 1986
Justice - 1988

Aerosmith:
Aerosmith - 1973
Get Your Wings - 1974
Toys In The Attic - 1975
Rocks - 1976


It's like bands are almost spending too much time on each album to try and make them perfect and ruining it rather than just going in the studio, doing their thing, releasing an album and leaving you with an imprint of exactly where that band was at that exact point in time and to me, that's what's killing the music scene these days.

[dimlight2]

I think that artist have to work harder and make BETTER albums, period!!
And come on, i think Bon Jovi has been burned out for years, he's blaming everybody but himself for he's lack of talent.
If the Album is good, you're gonna have it on vinyl, cd, and digital.

[KsE60]

TommySixx wrote:
It's like bands are almost spending too much time on each album to try and make them perfect and ruining it rather than just going in the studio, doing their thing, releasing an album and leaving you with an imprint of exactly where that band was at that exact point in time and to me, that's what's killing the music scene these days.

A lot of bands tour more since international travel easier. they make an album and tour for 2 or 3 years...and it seems the emphasis is going back to singles as it was before the late 60's. Most albums are all filler with 2 singles...last album I bought was All That Remains - For We Are Many...all killer no filler

[kinslayerSOA]

Job Bon Jovi has lashed out at digital music culture and, more specifically, Apple CEO Steve Jobs for "killing the music business".

Who's Job Bon Jovi?

[ArnaudJ]

rofl at ^

[Leichim17]

I download for free. But I have 100+CDs. I know what he means, and somewhere he's right.
And everyone saying CDs are crap because few good songs and rest lots of crap; the artists work their asses of for us, fans. We all want a new album as soon as possible, but it's not easy to make such a nice record in such a short period. If you're an artist,like me, then you got to know making songs isn't easy, it's lots of work. + Artists make the music THEY want to make and THEY like. OK, they also want the fans to like it, but this will happen anyway.

[Floyd Phoenix]

Steve didn't kill the music business... but he almost killed progressive rock. Take Dark side of the moon for example, firstly you should not buy just one song from the album, and secondly the bits where the songs merge are all out.

[ghostnineone]

i hate when people say "well music today isnt worth buying, maybe one or two songs"

there were tons of shit albums back in the day with only 1 good song on them too, its not some new thing, the only difference then was you had to buy the entire album and were stuck with the shit thats on it and the good song.

[scawti]

Actually, he made it possible for the bands and record companies to continue making money in the era of downloaded music. I'd say he kept the business going, by taking it into another direction.

[ktlb07]

the new deftones record was great all the way through.

[lupinitic]

if people would pass 2 hours on the record store they will surely find a CD

[lupinitic]

that they like /sorry for this double comment

[nylertickel2]

Did anyone else notice the Job Bon Jovi?

[PageIsTrueGod]

I agree so much. In my friends, there is only me and another dude who still buy CDs and my other friends ask why I buy the whole album instead of just one or two songs. I would have like to be born in the time where music was made by musicians and not by "commercial products" like Taio Cruz or Miley Cyrus.

[Radiohead_u2]

TommySixx wrote:

I will always listen to a whole album over a few tracks. However, I think the music business needs to look at itself properly. From the bands that play it to the corporations that run it. Everything is so focused on the quality of the sound and technology that less time is spent on the song writing side. I don't know whether it's lack of inspiration or just following a trend or what. Bands put out an album every 3-4 years these days but look back during the 70s/80s where bands would put out classics within a year or 2!

AC/DC released:
Highway to Hell 1979
Back in Black 1980
For Those About To Rock 1981

Metallica released:
Ride The Lightning - 1984
Master of Puppets - 1986
Justice - 1988

Aerosmith:
Aerosmith - 1973
Get Your Wings - 1974
Toys In The Attic - 1975
Rocks - 1976


It's like bands are almost spending too much time on each album to try and make them perfect and ruining it rather than just going in the studio, doing their thing, releasing an album and leaving you with an imprint of exactly where that band was at that exact point in time and to me, that's what's killing the music scene these days.

HAHAHAHA! Do you evan know how music made/recorded???

[Tigershark2112]

Good ole Job Bon Jovi

[crazyhaircut94]

I do dislike the digital market for music. I much rather want my music in real format. Although I still enjoy my iPod. I go mental if I can't listen to music when I'm going somewhere.

[rain-man]

Radiohead_u2 wrote:

TommySixx wrote:

I will always listen to a whole album over a few tracks. However, I think the music business needs to look at itself properly. From the bands that play it to the corporations that run it. Everything is so focused on the quality of the sound and technology that less time is spent on the song writing side. I don't know whether it's lack of inspiration or just following a trend or what. Bands put out an album every 3-4 years these days but look back during the 70s/80s where bands would put out classics within a year or 2!

AC/DC released:
Highway to Hell 1979
Back in Black 1980
For Those About To Rock 1981

Metallica released:
Ride The Lightning - 1984
Master of Puppets - 1986
Justice - 1988

Aerosmith:
Aerosmith - 1973
Get Your Wings - 1974
Toys In The Attic - 1975
Rocks - 1976


It's like bands are almost spending too much time on each album to try and make them perfect and ruining it rather than just going in the studio, doing their thing, releasing an album and leaving you with an imprint of exactly where that band was at that exact point in time and to me, that's what's killing the music scene these days.

HAHAHAHA! Do you evan know how music made/recorded???

I do. Usually when an established band sits down to record an album they take months to make sure all the instruments and vocals are just right, they make sure the production is smooth, and the final mix is nice and listenable.

Unfortunately what often suffers in that approach is the songwriting, and that's what TommySixx was worried about: that the bands just aren't writing good songs anymore because of the focus on studio production. I have to agree.

And the good songs that are written are often stripped of their emotion through production. When you polish everything to a glossy sheen you can miss some of the rough edges that gave it so much feeling. Some of my favorite albums have dirty guitars and imperfect vocals but to me, that makes them so much better.

[hudsonstradlin]

This dude's come out with more Greatest Hits albums than the Rolling Stones have farewell tours. To quote Phil Dunphy, WHY THE FACE?

[beineken]

jon bon jovi cares because nobody would have bought any of his albums if they had been able to get 30-second previews of the non-radio singles.

the music business is far from dead. it's just changing. more music is being consumed right now than at any point in history. sure, the overwhelming majority of that consumption is through illegal downloading, but that's put far more bands that wouldn't have seen success on the touring circuit. as long as people are listening to music, there will be a music business. spoiler alert: that will be forever.

[Mike Mars 1225]

I don't like Bon Jovi's music, but he hit the nail right on the head.

[Slap-happy]

Another factor in the evolution of music?
When rock and roll first started bands only recorded singles - there was no market for albums - that changed in the 1960s with the Beatles and the Stones et al. It comes around in circles.

[pono88]

100% agree. While Jobs didn't invent digital downloads he totally streamlined them. I remember back in the mid-90's when I bought an album and it was either awesome or crap same as today but the difference then was you were excited to listen to the crap because it was new. Today you can browse and listen to parts of songs before you buy and watch the behind the scenes studio footage online. It compleatly lacks the magic of buying a record. On the plus side you know what you're getting but you do lose alot of the excitment of holding a new record and looking at the art.

[guitarplayer292]

TommySixx wrote:

I will always listen to a whole album over a few tracks. However, I think the music business needs to look at itself properly. From the bands that play it to the corporations that run it. Everything is so focused on the quality of the sound and technology that less time is spent on the song writing side. I don't know whether it's lack of inspiration or just following a trend or what. Bands put out an album every 3-4 years these days but look back during the 70s/80s where bands would put out classics within a year or 2!

AC/DC released:
Highway to Hell 1979
Back in Black 1980
For Those About To Rock 1981

Metallica released:
Ride The Lightning - 1984
Master of Puppets - 1986
Justice - 1988

Aerosmith:
Aerosmith - 1973
Get Your Wings - 1974
Toys In The Attic - 1975
Rocks - 1976


It's like bands are almost spending too much time on each album to try and make them perfect and ruining it rather than just going in the studio, doing their thing, releasing an album and leaving you with an imprint of exactly where that band was at that exact point in time and to me, that's what's killing the music scene these days.

Look at Zappa, he was releasing new albums all the time. It's possible to release new material constantly without the long wait for the fans, but at best, they're doing a whole lot of touring in between, or at worst they're just too lazy. Actually, worse than them being lazy, they're a manufactured pop act.

[JCPrevenge]

Sorry if small-time bands cant release their albums on vinyl?

[maximumrocker]

nylertickel2 wrote:

Did anyone else notice the Job Bon Jovi?

yes haha

[N64]

Whatever the case may be, Steve Jobs is a douche.

[schirripar]

guitarplayer292 wrote:

TommySixx wrote:

I will always listen to a whole album over a few tracks. However, I think the music business needs to look at itself properly. From the bands that play it to the corporations that run it. Everything is so focused on the quality of the sound and technology that less time is spent on the song writing side. I don't know whether it's lack of inspiration or just following a trend or what. Bands put out an album every 3-4 years these days but look back during the 70s/80s where bands would put out classics within a year or 2!

AC/DC released:
Highway to Hell 1979
Back in Black 1980
For Those About To Rock 1981

Metallica released:
Ride The Lightning - 1984
Master of Puppets - 1986
Justice - 1988

Aerosmith:
Aerosmith - 1973
Get Your Wings - 1974
Toys In The Attic - 1975
Rocks - 1976


It's like bands are almost spending too much time on each album to try and make them perfect and ruining it rather than just going in the studio, doing their thing, releasing an album and leaving you with an imprint of exactly where that band was at that exact point in time and to me, that's what's killing the music scene these days.

Look at Zappa, he was releasing new albums all the time. It's possible to release new material constantly without the long wait for the fans, but at best, they're doing a whole lot of touring in between, or at worst they're just too lazy. Actually, worse than them being lazy, they're a manufactured pop act.

The Beatles active for 6 years: 1963-1969 released 12 albums.

And I couldn't agree more with Bon Jovi

Listen to vinyl

[xevious1]

i still buy all my cds, thats the only way i get my music. few people i know enjoy music as much as i do, probably because they just get the hit song and forget about the rest of the bands work.

[Aftertime]

Yet another veteran musician stuck in his own era. He sounds like an old man yelling at kids skating on sidewalks

[theotherguy7145]

So many opinions!

I'm with Bon Jovi though. The magic has gone out of the industry nowadays- and most people who download single tracks don't know the magic of what music is.

Good songs/bad songs is just an opinion. Some of the less popular songs on albums are some of my faves.

Plus- how do you know if there are 'bad' songs if you download 1 or 2 songs and didn't spend time listening to the full album?

I think something like "so much music, so little time" is around nowadays. If something doesn't catch someone's ear immediately then they just change track. Music isn't appreciated enough now.

[TexasFury]

You people act as if you never heard of 45 rpm singles.

[strung_out1]

i agree... cds and vinyl all the way!

[demonomania]

iTunes is just another option for people - you can still buy cd's and vinyl, maybe not at a store, but online, and have it shipped to you, usually in a few days to a week (depending on where you live). Some people don't want a full cd - i know people like that, and they have bought an entire cd and only listened to 1 or 2 tracks. That's who iTunes is useful for, and when the digital locker is implemented into itunes sometime this year, any albums bought on itunes will be redownloadable forever if lost. I buy vinyl, cd's and download from itunes. Some people just don't want a cd, and find it too much of a hassle to play records - i can totally see that. But what a lot of people don't realize is that some people (even a lot of my friends, and even my parents friends who are getting into their 40s and 50s) don't want cd or vinyl, the latter being nostalgia to them, and donwload from itunes. Whats the problem with having a choice between formats? I don't believe there is one?

[Johnashley0416]

I don't know whats wrong? I keep trying to play my 33's and 45's in my my new cd playing machine but i can't get them to play. Also my 8-tracks keep getting stuck in my tape recorder how do i fix this? My tech guy tells me my flux capacitor is not compatible to the bearings on the insertion tray..... Maybe???

I may need a new positive vibe technician!!!

[red-mosquito]

i dont think music was killed.. I think apple gave listeners a chance to have access on the music or lets say an option if the albums of current musicians are worth buying of their money...because for before i buy an original CD I have to download the whole album first if its buying it definitely I will buy it

[NBarry19]

KnotParkDay wrote:

I'm 16 years old, still buy CDs, and still prefer to listen to a whole album than individual tracks.
You say you there's no music good enough to get a whole album? Look harder. Good albums are still being made.

This, except I'm 17. lol

[Warriorboss14]

Jon Bon Jovi is a discrace to the music industry therefore he has no right putting other people down

[Tarsplitter]

Warriorboss14 wrote:

Jon Bon Jovi is a discrace to the music industry therefore he has no right putting other people down

Better keep your mouth shut about stuff you don't know, kiddo.

[AcdcTXfan]

Sorry Bon Jovi but I don't want to listen to 11 consecutive songs of yours if you only have 3 good ones on each album.

[AshandRuin]

STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE

[samjbow]

If people want individual songs rather than albums, they'll get them by downloading them illegally, in which case the artist wouldn't make one cent. Granted selling songs on iTunes is not the most effective ways for musicians to gain a profit, but my point is, when people want those individual songs and not the entire album, they're going to download them. iTunes at least allows the musicians to make SOME profit (albeit very little) off of this.