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QUEEN OF Pop, Sir Elton John has apparently said that the Interweb is destroying good music and stopped people talking to each other.
The Sun claimed that Sir Elton has posed comments online that call for the internet to be closed down.

According to the Sun he wailed and lamented that the internet and the emerging industry of digital music has created a cold and impersonal world for artists to create new music in.

Sir Elton said that instead of going out, musicians were sitting at home and creating music in their living rooms.

He said that while this is sometimes OK, it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision.

Sir Elton said it would be a good idea to shut down the Internet for about five years and see what art is produced over that span.

Elton John claims the internet is ruining music.
He also said: "I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span."

I hope this doesn't come as a surprise to you, Elton, but the world doesn't rise or set exclusively on music, and neither does the functionality of the internet.

Plus, we can lament all we want about the disadvantages of the digital revolution, but the genie will probably not be going back into the bottle. . . so, no use fretting a lot.
Wistfully, as a pipe dream, yeah, it might have been better for the sake of artistic expression and some other reasons, for there not to have been a digital genie leaping out and taking over -- but that's all water under the bridge now, so might as well adapt the best we can.

BTW:
A notion of doing away with the internet altogether, or having it be overly controlled, looms as a threat that each of us really needs to be on guard against.
The price of freedom is perpetual vigilance.

The Sun is nothing but a tabloid trash paper, about half a step above national enquirer. So I wouldn't necessarily give any credibility to that news report - The Sun is britain's best selling paper just for the tabliod gossip and the boobs on page 3. The story may be true, partially true or total fantasy, it's a crap shoot.

hmm, I wonder If Sir Elton has actually listened to any Indie internet music... All due respects Sir, but if you listened to artists on sites like this you would realize that music is more diverse now than ever before. I agree that if a band does nothing more than sit in the garage and never gig they will miss out on a lot and get stifled, but the hard truth is that bands use the internet as a tool to enhance their exposure... And Indie soloists now have the ability to produce their music to the world, a luxery that in years past took corporate money to achieve. I think Sir Elton is worried about his purse strings... The internet makes a different playing field now. Soon, probably when the "industry" realizes that they cannot control everything that goes on here on the net, the digital media revoloution will demand that bands make their gold from concerts, paid appearances, advertising, t-shirts, and other fodder instead of from the music file itself. Big deal; actors have always made their money this way.

Elton's wardrobe is destroying the planet.

He's got enough money to shut down for 5 years... Give us all a break at the same time.

Yeah and would he be missed in 5 years time, his recent output has been a shockingly mundane pile of crap and the way he chases after the hot young things to collab at all costs is just a joke...

Still, I like some his older material and respect the fact that he came out at a time when gaybashing was a popular recreational activity.

I don't believe the hype on this story. And at least he recycled his banana headgear and some of his collection of Gucci dresses or whatever for charity...

Oh, let him drivel on. He's just bitter because the oldschool industry, to which he's long-since become a master at manipulating, is crumbling away. His wishing-away of Net music is no more likely than my successfully conjuring an an army of flying monkeys upon his ass. He gets kudos for successfully pushing the envelope in his heyday, but now it's time for him to lay back.

Elton is mearly echoing the thoughts and wishes of his RIAA overlords.

tsk tsk, at the pathetic kitchen-slave.

(Great photo choice Tracy!)

If it quacks like an RIAA duck, it IS an RIAA duck.

lol

when's duck hunting season?

Wabbit season! :bugs: Duck season!

No seriously, maybe he's only going by the so-called Indie artists who've gotten hugely popular due to Mysp*ce exposure, but are actually major label and crap (I'm talking to you Arctic Monkeys etc.)

from that article:
"Ironically, in March this year Elton made his entire music catalogue of 400 tracks available through Apple's iTunes music store.

Furthermore, a concert celebrating the pop idol's 60th birthday and the 250 million albums he's sold worldwide since the 1970s was streamed live over the internet."

Not happy with the extra market he can peddle his music through I guess... He also forgets that the net has made it easier for artists like us who have little/no chance or desire to be corrupted by a major label and that we sometimes only exist because of electronic sales.

As for an earlier part of the article where he stated about the net stopping people meeting up to make music, that is the biggest amount of bollocks that have come out of his mouth in years (as opposed to going IN it) - I've met many musicians online and have met and jammed with them in real life. In fact, if it weren't for the net, I'd have never created half the projects I have (and had great fun in doing so) nor would I have found old bandmates from the pre-PC days of which I could well be playing in a band with once more.

Elton, just retire. You and the record industry are really showing your age and it's not only embarrassing, it's an insult to those of us who don't have your connections or your contracts. The net is levelling the playing field, you've shown whose side your own and it's not the side of the millions of struggling artists trying to make a living from what is potentially the greatest thing to happen to the world.

No more candles in the wind please, there's a serious chance of an explosion if they're placed near you, Elton.

your - you're... woohoo, i proofed it and still managed to muck it up!

"whose side you're on" - double cock-up! i'm gonna blame the internet.

number of albums elton john has sold: 250,000,000+
number of albums britney spears has sold: 31,000,000+
number of albums velvet revolver has sold: 2,000,000+
number of albums i have sold: 0

WELL, I CAN SEE WHY YOU MIGHT THINK THAT IT'S ALL MY FAULT.

I'M VERY SORRY FOR RUINING MUSIC, EVERYONE. I WILL BE HANDING OUT APOLOGY CUPCAKES TO MAKE UP FOR MY GREVIOUS ERRORS.

Quote officernarc "I'M VERY SORRY FOR RUINING MUSIC, EVERYONE. I WILL BE HANDING OUT APOLOGY CUPCAKES TO MAKE UP FOR MY GREVIOUS ERRORS."

..........I'll help ya frost em. I gpt some sprinkles here somewhere!