Elton John Says Internet is Destroying Music

Jared writes "Elton John says that the internet is destroying good music and "stopping people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff." He laments the way that the internet and the emerging industry of digital music has created a cold and impersonal world for artists to create new music in."

Sure, Elton, sure.

[Kickstart70]

And Video killed the Radio star too, eh?

Nick Burns

[TheDarkener]

"Oh, it's the Internet that sucks, and not you, right? RIGHT?"

This states it better...

[Anonymous Coward]

In other news Music has stated that Elton John is destroying it.

Re:Sir Elton may be right, but who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

He is right. Where were the Spice Girls and Britney Spears before the Internet? Oh yeah, they didn't exist! And what happened as ARPANet was getting popular? John Lennon got shot! I think the cause is obvious.

Sorry, it was

[Dachannien]

the two guys who created the Spice Girls [wikipedia.org] that killed good music, and that was before teh Intarweb had gained rampant popularity. It's all been downhill from there.

the internet is destroying music?

[doktorjayd]

so his issue is more a demarcation dispute?

Re:Nick Burns

[legallyillegal]

the internet's alright for fighting, the internet's alright alright ALRIGHT?!

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[Buran]

Elton played the Pinball Wizard in Tommy -- all he asked in exchange for doing the role was getting to keep the shoes.

Re:Elton John? - Old school hacker!

[lawrencebillson]

Very; he is especially qualified to comment about Internet affairs. Elton demonstrates many hacker type qualities. Especially his code re-use skill. He was able to use the same bit of code for songs about two different celebrities that had almost nothing in common. Brilliant!

Experiment?

[Tim Browse]

From TFA:

"I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span."

If only there was a period in history when the internet didn't exist, so we could make a comparison to it.

Re:And rock n' roll singlehandedly killed communis

[hxnwix]

Sir, do not trivialize this. Surely, you must understand that

MUSIC IS GOING DOWN THE INTERTUBES!

I guess that's why they call it the blues...

[Howzer]

...Time on the 'net could be time spent with you
Clicking on banners, searching for lovers
Sneaking my laptop under the covers
And I guess that's why they call it the blues

Ah, Elton, always on hand with crappy lyrics badly modified for current events...

Re:Sure, Elton, sure.

[aivankovic]

If it kills his music, who cares?

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, I do know Who actually wrote it

- So who did?

- Yes!

(Sorry.)

Re:And rock n' roll singlehandedly killed communis

[Zoop]

I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span.

Right--we did it for ten years, already. It was called the Seventies. It started with the Beatles and ended with Disco, and Elton John helped that transition.

Let's just all be quiet and hope he goes away.

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[Allison Geode]

he songs he writes are autobiographical, about people important to him, about things important to his lyricist, etc.

where does Crocodile Rock fit into this, exactly?

The more thing change...

[6-tew]

Is this news? An ageing, and increasingly irrelevant musician is upset that the industry is our pacing his technical understanding and/or taste. I know someone out there is a fan of Mr. John's music, I'm not, none of my friends are. My parents hate his music and are from the generation that launched Elton's career. I've always wondered who was buying his CDs. It's a matter of opinion. I think EJ had done more to make music crap than the Interweb could.

Have not the record companies failure to build a truly kick-ass online business model, combined with there terrible taste in music lead to a decrease in the overall quality of music? I'm not a music geek, but I never listen to top 40 radio. I'm tuned to public (CBC) and college, mostly because of the whole quality thing. I'm not a musician. Maybe that's the problem?

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[HansF]

Elton has a lot of leather shoes.

Jurassic

[Bl4ckM4gic]

I don't think for a minute that it's destroying music or the personal feel of it. It's giving people a chance to find their OWN idea of good music instead of being spoon fed packaged stars through the label-to-media system. The UK has definately had a noticable change of taste in the last 5 years and I have to think the internet has had a significant part in this. People have been able to hear things they normally wouldn't. Artists have found platforms that were impossible to stand on before. If anything, I'd say the amount of music people listen to and the time they spent with it is much higher than before because it's so accessable and easy (iPod etc). As far as I know, concerts are also still selling out and a night out to see a band/artist is still as popular as ever. The numbers are spread to more areas than before. Music hasn't been hurt, it's the old dinosaurs with the loud voices and their model of how things should be that has been hurt. Music's evolved, come with us - you might like it! :P

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[Anonymous Coward]

- So who did?
- Yes!

So, was it Yes! or The Who?

Re:His old stuff is awesomely gay

[PopeRatzo]

By the way, by "gay" I am not referring to sexual orientation. If I have any respect for Elton John at all it's because he was one of the first big pop stars who was man enough to come out of the closet.

His music, not so much. I had a girlfriend who liked Elton John, and this is when I was deep into my Raw Power period. She was fine, but ultimately, I had to keep my priorities straight and kick her to the curb. A guy can only take so much, and having to maintain an erection while "Tiny Dancer" is playing on the stereo is beyond the pale. Soon after, I met someone better at a Mott the Hoople show at (get this) the Aragon Ballroom.

She gave me a dose, but it was worth it.

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[PopeRatzo]

The Internet is destroying the music industry

..and loving it.

Well...

[adagat]

You don't have to be particularly clever to be a pop star...

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[smittyoneeach]

Nein--Inch Nails!

Sir Paul feels differently

[dontknowdidley]

Wow, two knighted musicians with completely different views of this new fangled contraption.

Sir Paul McCartney, you might remember him as the one with weird haircut from the Beatles, thinks record companies don't get the internet and are killing music. He's abandoned his label and is pushing forward on his own.

Re:Well...

[tomstdenis]

Win.

I don't get why people look to the "stars" for advice and shit. Personally, I only like a few Elton John tracks and think the rest are blatantly "faggy." We get it, you munch on cock, doesn't mean you're an artist, nor does it mean we should listen to ya.

As for the net killing socializing, I suggest he go to comic con, defcon, HOPE, toorcon, etc, etc, etc... Tons of people there who meet more or less only via the net, get together in common interests. Wow...

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[lilomar]

Alternately:

Lyrics: xkcd [xkcd.com]

Re:Finding band members

[timeOday]

You're only a counter example if you don't suck :)

obligatory.

[polar red]

Its like you never even read what

You must be new here.

Re:Sucks to be you, Elton

[ibbo]

He will moan about the internet and music but he will praise the Internet when he's hunting for young lads to bugger.

Elton is past his prime and thinks he can actually have a say in the world. he better of sticking to the BBC gay parades that nobody watches.

So Elton if your listening take you candle from the wind and shove it where it fits (and it it needs to be sideways then so be it)

Re:His old stuff is awesomely gay

[bigdavesmith]

having to maintain an erection while "Tiny Dancer" is playing on the stereo is beyond the pale

I'm getting back in bed. Things are looking rough today...

Re:Consider the source....

[Weedlekin]

"I don't know how reliable the SUN is."

The only reliable thing about The Sun is the fact that every issue will have some pictures of topless women. This is also the only thing that makes it remotely worth looking at for anyone with an IQ that can't be expressed on the fingers of one hand.

Re:And what's good lately?

[Wandering Wombat]

I mean, the biggest act of GenX - Nirvana, was an overrated distortion band built around the central premise that Daddy was too mean in my posh suburb and so I had to go and shoot myself.

[citation needed]

Re:His old stuff is awesomely gay

[PopeRatzo]

No, by "kick her to the curb" I mean I told her I was working undercover for the National Security Agency on a project so sensitive that I could no longer allow my feelings to interfere with my work. I told her that I just cared too much for her to put her in danger by letting her get close to me, and that perhaps, when all the world was free and I was no longer bound by my oaths of allegiance to my agency and the country, I would look her up, but until then, it was best for her own safety to not see me any more.

Being an Elton John fan, she believed me entirely of course.

Isn't anyone going to respond to my initial assertion that the Who contributed more great music before they recorded Tommy than Elton John did in his entire career? Townsend, Entwistle and Keith Moon were gods of Rock's Second Era, and Elton John was a schmaltzy singer-songwriter whose work was just a few steps above Christopher Cross or Morris Albert. Bernie Taupin was a skilled lyricist, but even he knew when it was time to hang 'em up.

And now Elton John is pissed and is blaming the Internet because he's not still able to support his lavish lifestyle from royalties on stuff he recorded 35 years ago. Boo friggin' hoo.

Re:Sure, Elton, sure.

[ConceptJunkie]

In _my_ day, we only had white keys, and could only afford one octave. Sharps and flats hadn't been invented yet.

Elton Has It Backwards

[popejeremy]

Elton John says:

"I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span."

I say, "I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole entertainment industry for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span."

Re:Biased opinion

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

Actually, I've been having some problems with my insight recently. The other day I was unable to insee what was on the other side of something. But I think the mods have it correctly, I'm only about 50% insightful, although highly underrated. I think even they underate my underatedness.

mod system not sufficiently granular

[Gary W. Longsine]

See, posts like that... that's why we need more mod options. Like "Unintentionally funny because the poster is such an obvious dork" and "It would be funny if the poster hadn't revealed such deeply rooted and disturbing psychological problems" or "It would be funny if I hadn't had exactly the same experience with a girl who loved getting stuffed to "Tiny Dancer". Of course, then mods would be forced to choose the best of several options. I suppose the current way is better, after all. Troll it is, then.