Jerry Cantrell: “The music business is not very fair”

In an interview granted to Primordial Radio, the guitarist and singer of Alice in Chains Jerry Cantrell, fresh off the release of his solo album “I want blood” (read the review here), talked about how the distribution and enjoyment of music has changed over the years and what it means for artists’ livelihoods.

Here are the words of the 58-year-old American musician reported by blabbermouth.

net: “The music business wasn’t set up very fairly. There were sort of predatory loans to bands that had to pay back 75 cents on the dollar. And as far as keeping the releases going, that was a real battle and very few artists were doing it. The new model has taken it and kind of intensified it. I was watching, I don’t remember the artist, but I was watching something that makes millions and millions of streams, and people get paid a thousandth of a cent, a thousandth of a cent every time it is played. In the old days, when it was played on the radio, then it was like a dime or something. I’m a real defender of artists’ rights.”

Cantrell further explained that the music industry has always been a battleground, but with streaming platforms the financial squeeze has intensified. “The new model of streaming platforms has really taken the old model that was already contained and made it even smaller. So the costs of doing business – bus rental, gas, fuel, salaries, travel – continue to rise and revenue for artists, large and small, continues to fall. I have nothing to complain about. I’m fine, but it’s about doing a good job. I don’t think a grocery store, a farmer or someone who sells or grows many products would remain in business for a long time if costs remained the same ones and 70 to 80% of customers would say: ‘Today I really don’t want to pay for this apple, but I’ll take it anyway'”.

Ultimately Jerry Cantrell he would like there to be a fairer deal in favor of artists. “It’s a terrible business model. It would be nice to see something a little more fair to the artist. Sure. The landscape is always moving, the clock is always running and you can count on it changing. part of life, you go through the days, weeks and years of trying to see the changes, be aware of them, try to adapt and understand how to operate where as a child I listened to eight tracks, 45s, LPs and that’s it. I’ve seen some format changes, I’ve seen some different patterns change in how people consume music and how music is delivered to them. But at the end of the day, I’m still trying to figure it out. you can do what you can. You can talk about it and try to figure out what’s best for you. My job is pretty simple, and that brings us back to square one. I’m just trying to make good rock and roll that I like. throwing it out there and playing it for people. And I’m really lucky to have the opportunity to do that and to have some people who care about what I do.”