A longtime producer and collaborator of David Bowie's has discussed his opinion that the music industry is in peril.
Speaking at the SXSW festival in Texas, uber-respected producer Tony Visconti discussed the future of music and how the 'next David Bowie' is out there but cannot avail of the opportunities that there once were.
"The next David Bowie lives somewhere in the world, the next Beatles, the next Bruce Springsteen, but they're not getting the shot," he said. "They're not being financed."
During his keynote speech, Visconti - who produced 14 of Bowie's albums, including his final one, 'Blackstar', also read from a short story that he had written about a vision of the music industry in the future, where only one record label existed on the planet, and they only released one single per week, chosen via a lottery.
He said: You know, there’s kind of a downward spiral and it’s been happening for awhile, where singles all sound the same, where sales aren’t that great, where people are streaming and if you get 20 million streams you make enough for a nice steak dinner. Things are pretty bad."
He added: "I think we're living in a time when formulas are being repeated more than they ever were in the past... I didn't want to come out here saying this stuff, swinging two fists in the air," said Visconti. "If this was really working, record sales would be going through the roof."
