From Music & Media Magazine
Peter Gabriel recently created--with Charles Grimsdale--a UK-based digital rights management company On Demand Distribution (OD2). Rather than a speech, Gabriel preferred a question-and-answer session. Here, he is interviewed by the conference's chairman, Music & Media editor-in-chief Emmanuel Legrand.
Q: What was your first reaction to the Internet?
A: I think when I first looked, it was took me a while to realise what it was exactly. My father is an electrical engineer designer and he designed the system with an Italian, which, I think, was the first fibre-optic-based TV system in the 1970s. As I was a little kid I would hear my dad fighting for electronic distribution and the possibilities of entertainment on demand--electronic democracy, home shopping and so on. This was a very familiar subject, so I think I was really given the idea of what it could be.
Q: Did you decide you were going to use it to the maximum of its capacity?
A: I think for anyone doing anything creative not to be involved in it is crazy. The opportunities are so fantastic tat you can get out to anyone in the world with anything. And instead of being restricted by formats or by what will appeal to mainstream or appeal to the A&R department, you now have the opportunity to to really create anything, and if there's an audience you have a chance to find it. It's a really exciting time to be involved in anything creative.
Q: There was a lot of talk today about where we are headed, and basically no one has a clue. Do you have a clue?
A: I don't. I think I just want to go along for the ride. I think it's going to throw a lot of rough water up for everybody and you have to re-examine what you do and justify what you do, and find ways to work with it. I think there are jobs for everyone involved in music. There will be some artists that I know who will want to work directly with the audience. The role of the record company is to find talent, develop it and fund it. A lo of musicians that I know aren't very good at the money side of things or the marketing side of things so there will still be a need for the record companies. But at the same time you get some artists that will conduct a lot of experiments, the same for retailers.
Q: How do you see your own relationship developing with your own record label?
A: I've been very lucky. Virgin has been very keen to work with us and to explore new ways of doing things. Obviously the big questions are will people pay for music and how will they pay for music? I think if we're going to expect people to pay more than they have done then we'll have to give them a lot more, whether it's in the form of visual information, video, film, text, whatever. I think there has to be more in the package. But I think there are ways of doing that and keeping everyone happy.
Q: Is that one of the reasons you prefer to invest in a company that is doing digital rights management?
A: It sounds very boring but in a way they are pretty fundamental things. If you have the tools of production and the tools of distribution then you have a better chance of (a) making what you want, and (b)) getting it out to people. I see a lot of sense in going tact route rather than doing flashy consumer Web sites.
Q: With the Internet, should artists own their own copyrights?
A: This is a personal belief, but I would say yes, artists should own their own copyrights and should license them. I grew up in the '60s when artists seemed to have the most power and I think that was good for music and I still believe that. But I still think there is a lot of mileage. You say to a young band, OK, you've got the world at your doorstep, but how do you get noticed?
I think think it's the end of record companies as we know, but I think the roles will change. I think artists need to wake up too, because as we saw with the evolution of CDs, artists got screwed and there's a fair chance of that happening again. There's always a bit of a tussle but at the same time there's a model that words and I think will continue to work.
Q: What do you think of Napster? Do you think it's a good thing for music?
A: It's certainly challenging everything and thrown things up in the air. Although it caused my computer to crash, the idea of being able to research and listen to anything you want is a fantastic thing. The idea of not paying musicians, I think, is a bad thing. They went into it with the intentions of opening things up for music but now we see people investing in it, the record business investing in it, and it's becoming a business just like everything else. It's not going to stay free music forever. But I can foresee a time when you can go and check out something for free, you can decide if you want to buy it or not. Of the the subscription models being talked about, the one thing I don't see working is the record-company one because I don't think most people care at all what label music is on. They care about the artist and maybe the genre. So it's either everything specialised or artist-based.
Q: What to you think of the notion that if it's on the Internet, music should be free?
A: I go to my local baker in the village and I have a sign that says, "Bread should be free." I take a loaf of bread. But he stopped giving me bread, and I'm asking myself why? It's the same question. But it's not just a question for the music business because the film business follows closely behind as the bandwidth increases. It's any software obviously, anything creative, journalism. Society is going to have to say if everything is for free, but f it does that you're going to have to find a way that people can fund what they do. I think it's going to be very difficult.
Q: Herbie Hancock said he was pro-choice in that he wants to be consulted about what music is made available free. Do you take that position?
A: I would like artists to have the choice on whether their music is given away for free or not. I think that's what's going to happen ultimately.
Q: Have you discovered on Napster songs you cannot remember recording?
A: You find everything. Just to have it all available is a great thing, but the business model needs a revision in favour of the artist.