W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless has voiced strong opinions on the state of the music industry, explaining how the ease of access through streaming has fundamentally devalued music, turning it into something disposable – a development he finds deeply saddening.
In a recent interview with Heavy Metal Perú, Lawless detailed his concerns. “It’s a real problem because music has become disposable,” he stated bluntly (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Music is not what it used to be years ago. And years ago, if you wanted a record, you had to work, save your money and then go buy that record. Today, fans don’t do that.”
He compared the current accessibility to a utility: “The music is — it’s like into the kitchen and turning on the water. It’s there all the time.” This constant availability, he argues, strips away the inherent worth. “And that’s sad, because it doesn’t put value on the music because the artist, he trades his labor for the fan’s labor. That’s the way it used to be. And that does not exist anymore because, like I said, the value that’s put on the music from where the public really exists, that respect for the music is not what it used to be. And it’s really sad, and it’s changed the music business tremendously.”
Lawless elaborated on this lost connection during a prior VIP Q&A session before a 2024 concert, emphasizing the “sweat equity” that once defined the fan-artist relationship. “For us, when we were doing it growing up, we traded our sweat equity for the artist’s sweat equity. That doesn’t exist now,” he explained. He feels younger generations miss out on a crucial experience: “They’re never gonna understand the joy. You get that record for the first time, you take it home and you put it on. You study every word, every photo while you’re listening to it. They don’t do that now. They’ve been robbed of that. And I feel really sorry for them.”
He repeated the core issue: value is tied to effort or exchange. “When you trade money or services or whatever, when you trade something, you put a value on it,” Blackie added. “When there is no value on it, it’s like oxygen; it doesn’t mean anything.”
While the recorded music landscape troubles him, Lawless acknowledged a saving grace. “Now, from a live perspective of the shows, thankfully that has not changed, because if it had, we wouldn’t be talking right now; it would be over for everyone,” he told Heavy Metal Perú. “But fortunately, we still have it from the live shows. But as far as music itself, it no longer has the value it once had, and that makes me sad.”
Looking at the broader picture, Lawless placed the current situation within a historical context of technological disruption in show business. “If you look at show business, technology changes show business radically every 20 years,” he observed, citing the transitions from silent films to talkies, movies to television, radio’s rise, the MTV era, and now the Internet and AI. “And for any artist that cannot make the change, they die… So show business has shown us for at least the last a hundred years that it’s going to change radically every 20 years.”
Despite understanding this pattern, Lawless expressed uncertainty and pessimism about whether future technology could reverse the devaluation trend and restore the cherished experience he remembers. “Can I give you an answer as to where the technology will go from here? No, I can’t,” he admitted during the Q&A. “Because I don’t see any technology that will do the things that we’re talking about that would then reintroduce that younger generation to a love of music… I see us in a kind of a no man’s land right now, and I don’t know where it’s going. ‘Cause I don’t see a technology that will give us the joy of what we used to have. Because the Internet giveth, the Internet taketh away.”
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