In a new interview with Australia’s Heavy, DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover spoke about the decline of the music industry as consumers value access over ownership and experiences over assets.
“Back in the heyday or vinyl music, in the ’60s and ’70s, there was only two things important — one was music and the other was sport,” he said (hear audio below). “And they became very important because they were the only ways for people to escape poverty, for example. You could become a musician or a sportsman and there’s was the hope you could rise above yourself and get successful. But since then, technology has leapt forward to the point where music is just one of many distractions. And it’s become less important. I mean, music, back in the ’50s and ’60s, it was almost like a religion — people followed you. And now it doesn’t happen quite like that. It’s all about celebrity and fast achievements and fame, and all of those things, actually, don’t interest us. We were always just interested in the music. We’re old hat like that, I guess.”
Glover also touched upon the resurgence of vinyl records in recent years, with vinyl sales reportedly accounting for more than a third of the revenue coming from physical releases.
“Well, all I know is in the last few years of touring, I’ve signed more albums than I’ve signed CDs,” he said. “And I think holding something in your hand, it gives you a thrill that no amount of streaming or downloading can give you. It’s physical. And maybe that’ll go [away] — in a hundred years’ time, maybe nothing like this will exist. We’ll be looking at it like Edison’s inventions and the Victrola era at the turn of the century — of the last century; not this one. So it will be viewed like that. But for right now, we’ve still got it and value it. It’s great.”
DEEP PURPLE‘s new album, “Whoosh!”, was released on August 7 via earMUSIC. The LP was once again helmed by Canadian producer Bob Ezrin (KISS, PINK FLOYD, ALICE COOPER), who also worked on the band’s previous two studio LPs, 2017’s “Infinite” and 2013’s “Now What?!”
