Pete Townshend of The Who calls Apple's iTunes a "digital vampire"

Pete Townshend of The Who calls Apple's iTunes a "digital vampire"

Just in time for Halloween, artist Pete Townshend of The Who has branded Apple's music business a "digital vampire," suggesting that iTunes profits from music without giving popular artists all the benefits they enjoyed under the record labels and music publishers.

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What a bunch of baloney. iTunes brought about the legal downloading of music which has done more to benefit artists and record labels than anything else since the invention of the "Victrola" by RCA.

It seems as though Townsend is suggesting that anyone using digital music is pirating it. It's interesting he suggests music be paid for like food. Problem is the music industry he is talking about did not allow that easily. Like only one track on an album? Try buying that easily under the old system.

How ironic that these artists whose music was all about the differences of their generation, social change and revolution, are now fighting the very forces that they supported in those songs.

No offense to some of our "seasoned members", but these fossils just don't get it. It ain't the 60's and the 70's anymore. The record store isn't coming back. Without convenient options like iTunes and Amazon MP3, there would be no business left. Guys like him should be kissing Apple's feet that someone found an easy and desirable method to sell music online as well as a popular medium to play it on. Otherwise, everything would be pirated.

The next step is to do away with the record companies and move to direct distribution. THAT would benefit the artists. The record companies are nothing more than irrelevant leeches.

I think charging 15.00 for a CD did more damage to the artists than anything else also with iTunes ability to purchase the good songs the fodder went to the way side and forced artists to put quality songs on an album instead of one hit wonders. I also agree with everyone here that iTunes helped the music industry because if it was not
dying it sure smelled that way.

I'm surprised he's got the brass-neck to criticise internet business and technology given his well publicised troubles with reckless online purchasing.

His comments are flawed and insulting to a company who he seeks support from, and it makes you wonder as to whether he's actually used iTunes, given his shallow knowledge base of how it works.

iTunes profits from music without giving popular artists all the benefits they enjoyed under the record labels and music publishers.

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How would they benefit when that is known to be directly tied to increased pirating? Times are changing, people don't care about buying a whole cd when artists only release one good song on the album. Maybe the artists would consider making some actual good songs to make an album worthy of spending so much money on! Until then, iTunes can keep on rocking!

Wow, he seems truly uninformed about how iTunes works. Like iggibear just said, if you put more than one or two good songs on an album maybe people will feel more inclined to purchase the entire thing instead of just buying the one hit that's overplayed on the radio.

Apple should replace the services formerly offered to musicians by the music business before it largely collapsed.

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is he serious. Has he been into a record store lately? I dont think so. I walk past them all the time and they only have a cpl of people **browsing** the music. If it went back to the way it was he would be in the gutter by now living on beans and noodles.

Cheers

Well, that finalizes it. Townshend is an idiot.

I am surprised at how many people are bashing Pete for his views. I'm not saying I agree with him but I'm not a musician/artist. I don't know... but I think he is entitled to his opinions. Artists and labels (and distributors) will always look out for their own interests and hopefully can meet somewhere in the middle.

I utilize iTunes and physical CD purchases. I don't want to see either method disappear.

This is a fact I can prove. Pete Townsend at Woodstock threatened Jimi Hendrix (some say threatened to hit him) if he did not let The Who go on first. Hendrix backed down and told the JERK, Ok go on first but when I get on the stage, I am pulling out all the stops. Hendrix did and made old Pete with his 500 mistake solos look like a monkey with that guitar. From that day on, I lost all respect for the man.

Sorry, but that is the truth and he is a jerk. Nothing he would say or do would shock me in the least.

MyMacRox, I have talked to many who knew him and worked with him. All agree with what I said above. He has every right to his opinion as do the Mac REEKS Apple haters, but he is not a very nice person.

osxx said:

I think charging 15.00 for a CD did more damage to the artists than anything else also with iTunes ability to purchase the good songs the fodder went to the way side and forced artists to put quality songs on an album instead of one hit wonders. I also agree with everyone here that iTunes helped the music industry because if it was not
dying it sure smelled that way.

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I'm an old coot, (well not THAT old, but old enough to have been an active part of the 60's) and I simply do not like downloaded music.

I want the entire content of an "album" including the hard copy disk, and the liner notes.

I want all the songs, not just a few.

I don't want to burn my own disk. I want to keep the original just like I kept all my vinyl.

Sure I use I-tunes and also lots of digital content such as Pandora and Slacker all day long while I work.

I'm just not interested in the download business model and I'll pay extra to get original hard copy from a store. Its a shame that is getting harder to do.

I'm old school when it comes to music, or I'm just plain old.

I like thw who and Pete Townsed but I dont agree with him here I have to say

I thought that surely the rise of iTunes helped the music industry and artists re-emerge and rise again.

Pete needs to put down the Bong and maybe sober up bit. If anything Apple did his band a favor by making it easier and legal for people to buy their old music.

I hope some day everyone who thinks artists are whiners for wanting to sell albums instead of singles has the experience of their boss walking in one day and saying, "I know our original deal was to pay you for 8 hours of work, but now we just want to pay you for the time you are actually producing what we feel is good work. Maybe that's 8 hours, but probably it's more like one or two on any given day." Of course, you'll need to continue to work all 8 because you won't know which are the "good" hours and which are not, you just won't get paid for the "not good" ones.

My point earlier was that Mr Townsend shouldn't really be pontificating on matters of online purchasing given his previous difficulties.

Pete Townshend 'must be treated as a sex offender before The Who play at the Superbowl' | Mail Online

Daddy Elmis said:

I hope some day everyone who thinks artists are whiners for wanting to sell albums instead of singles has the experience of their boss walking in one day and saying, "I know our original deal was to pay you for 8 hours of work, but now we just want to pay you for the time you are actually producing what we feel is good work. Maybe that's 8 hours, but probably it's more like one or two on any given day." Of course, you'll need to continue to work all 8 because you won't know which are the "good" hours and which are not, you just won't get paid for the "not good" ones.

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If the majority of my work was crap, even a few moments of greatness wouldn't save my job.

Daddy Elmis said:

I hope some day everyone who thinks artists are whiners for wanting to sell albums instead of singles has the experience of their boss walking in one day and saying, "I know our original deal was to pay you for 8 hours of work, but now we just want to pay you for the time you are actually producing what we feel is good work. Maybe that's 8 hours, but probably it's more like one or two on any given day." Of course, you'll need to continue to work all 8 because you won't know which are the "good" hours and which are not, you just won't get paid for the "not good" ones.

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That sounds a lot like a commission paid tech doing warranty work been there
done that.