Photograph: Harry Borden
Paul Morley interviews Brian Eno
Brian Eno – On the end of an era
“I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a living from them for a while were lucky. There is no reason why anyone should have made so much money from selling records except that everything was right for this period of time. I always knew it would run out sooner or later. It couldn’t last, and now it’s running out. I don’t particularly care that it is and like the way things are going. The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you’d be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history’s moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it.”
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Whale blubber! Frickin’ priceless. And beautifully timed post, Dave, in light of the iPad announcement today. Nobody’s asking the question that I’m dying to have answered about the iPad. What happens when it slips out of your lap? The iCrack, perhaps?
January 27th, 2010 at 1:43 pmConsider The Grateful Dead. Couldn’t sell record 1. And the concert industry just about crapped their collective pants when Jerry died because The Dead generated enormous amounts of money playing live.
January 27th, 2010 at 2:01 pm[...] correcting itself. If Brian Eno is correct and the music industry really similar to that of whale blubber, I can’t help but think that the RIAA’s quest to get money via lawsuits should be [...]
January 27th, 2010 at 3:19 pmWhat a great analogy. How can you not love Brian Eno, barring when he produces Coldplay records.
January 27th, 2010 at 9:05 pmSay what you will about Eno’s Coldplay duties, I have to point out that at least he got the singer to dispense with a lot of that high-pitched whining he did on the older albums. Not having to hear THAT on every radio or coffee shop overhead was sweet relief. I also imagine a conversation between Eno and Coldplay….
Band: “What Kraftwerk riff should we borrow for this one?”
January 29th, 2010 at 8:06 amEno: “I have a better idea. Why don’t you put all your previous singles into the computer and randomly sample YOURSELVES?”
Band: “Never mind.”
It’s a provocative statement, but I don’t agree. Recorded music (in one medium or another) has been bought and sold for almost a hundred years. While a century may be just a “blip” in terms of human history, it’s hard to believe that our desire to enjoy reproductions of musical performance will end just like that. It’s easier to proclaim the end of an era than it is to foresee what’s coming next.
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:06 am[...] real records were their bread and butter. Brian Eno recently equated records with whale blubber, saying, I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a living from them for a [...]
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:04 pm