Noel Gallagher hasn’t been relevant musically for quite a while (an even longer while if you’re from the United States). Though his most recent album with his band High Flying Birds is pretty decent, mostly Gallagher has remained in the spotlight by being a quote-generating machine. His most recent thoughts on Apple Music and Beats 1 Radio keep his streak alive.
On the Varvet International podcast, Gallagher first set his sights on the idea of streaming music as a whole.
“If you tell me now that the record buying era is over that makes me sad, that the culture of buying and believing in a record is over. That era is over and the belief is that music is for hire and for rent, the money that you pay lets you access everybody’s music but own none of it. I think that’s a sad day. I understand that it’s the future, but it’s a sad day.”
Since he’d already bashed Tidal earlier this year, he decided to lay in to Apple’s new streaming option asking “Apple Music, world radio, is that some sort of George Orwell sh*t going on?”
“How can you be so arrogant that you can say ‘We now f*cking own world radio’. It came up on my phone, it’s there. What would I listen to? It’s not playing The Kinks. Unless there’s a f*cking section that says ‘Noel Gallagher’s music collection’ then I won’t be listening to it.
I don’t know the idea, what is it exactly? You pay 10 pound a month and then think ‘Mmm, I’m in a jazz mood today’ and then you’re not listening to yours, you’re letting someone else make the decision and I don’t know.”
Not surprisingly, Gallagher is also opposed to the idea of artists being constantly connected to their fan bases. He decried the Connect portion of the service, saying that it’s “creepy” that anyone would want to know what he’s up to.
“Who gives a f*ck what the artist is doing? My love for The Smiths never suffered because I didn’t know what they were doing. They were either on tour, disappeared and then put an album out and we all said ‘Wow, f*cking hell an album’s coming out, what’s it called? Nobody knows”
Don’t be so hard on other people using Connect. Not every artist can guarantee a bunch of pull-quote hungry music writers every time they open their mouths.
For a less angry look at Apple’s new streaming service, check out our review.
(via NME)
