Bon Jovi Says Steve Jobs Is “Personally Responsible For Killing Music”

Leander Kahney (11:37 am PDT, Mar 14 2011)

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi says Steve Jobs is “personally responsible for killing the music business” with iTunes.

In an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, Bon Jovi says kids no longer enjoy the “magical” experience of buying and enjoying LPs because of digital downloads. He hates to sound like an “old man,” he says, but it’s all Jobs’ fault:

“Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it. God, it was a magical, magical time. I hate to sound like an old man now, but I am, and you mark my words, in a generation from now people are going to say: ‘What happened?’. Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business.”

I’m an old man too, but I’ve never enjoyed music more. I much prefer my fantastic Sonos music system than my old record player. I do recall the excitement of buying a new LP every week. I doubt I’d get the same excitement these days, but that’s not Steve Jobs’ fault.

As for killing music, I’d say Bon Jovi has done more on that front than Steve Jobs.

Incidentally, Bon Jovi sits on a White House panel with Jobs’ wife, Laurene Powell Jobs. Both are members of the White House council for Community Solutions. Might be awkward at the next meeting.

The Sunday Times Magazine: LITD: Jon Bon Jovi, 48, rockstar (paywall)

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122 comments »

rg
I still have the very first CD I ever purchased; “Soda Fountain Shuffle” by Earl Klugh, and the price sticker is legible – $16.95. Twenty years later I can still find CDs in that price rage. I chalk it all up to the greed of all the participants in the industry.
James
Yes – There are a few things like rotary dial telephone, Fax machine, Vinyl record, over price music CD, etc., that the next generation probably wonder “what happened” and thank Gods that they don’t have to endure that experience. That what progress is.
Jwfnla
Yeah, he’s just wrong about this. Give us 12 songs on an album worth hearing and… guess what? We buy the whole album!
http://www.facebook.com/forestwalker Forest Walker
Bon Jovi telling someone ELSE that THEY are what’s bad about the music industry… His testicles must be 4 feet across…
http://twitter.com/400trix Archer Sully
From my own observations, it seems that there’s more interesting, varied, and downright musical artists available now than there were 10-15 years ago. Small labels seem to have an easier time reaching an audience than they used to.
Now, if your business model relies on extracting maximum dollars from a handful of artists that sell 1M units each, yeah, your business is suffering. I have no sympathy, as that was a model based on exploitation and catering to the lowest common denominator of musical taste. Good riddance.
Ictus75
Bon Jovi should get with the times! Greedy rockstars and corporations killed the music biz. If anything, Jobs saved the music biz with itunes and creating some system where people would actually buy music instead of stealing it. Hey Jon, how many songs have you sold on itunes??? Time to wake up and stop living on a prayer…
SavedByTechnology
When I was young, I preferred the sound of vinyl. Analog recordings just sound better, and are actually a better representation of what you would hear in the studio. That said, MP3′s are obviously better financially, and at my age (44), with my tinnitus, my ears can’t really tell the difference in sound quality anymore.
The other thing is that most albums today are just a bunch of tracks, whereas when I grew up, albums were more conceptual, if that’s a word. Songs were tied together within a story. DSOTM is by far my favorite album, but is there a way they would be able to sell that album today in MP3 format?

Anonymous
I don’t think you would hear all those clicks and pops in the studio…

SavedByTechnology
I bet Mr. Bongiovanni would change his tune if Apple pulled his music from iTunes.
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/NW4QIIUS3TQZN3JAAPCPDHJJNY David
Yeah, and computers killed the typewriter business. Your point is…?!
Niceday2ride
Way before iTunes there was a little something called Napster. Bon Jovi is a moron. Apple just joined the bandwagon.
WillyChill
F*** Bon Jovi, his music sucked in the 80′s and it sucks now. It is for old hairy chicks, with no sense of music quality.
David
Oh yes, the days when I had to buy an entire album for a few songs while music insiders would decide what I was supposed to like. The other day I bought an album from a college friend of mine. Beautiful voice, soulful lyrics, and she released independently on iTunes. It wouldn’t have been possible to release an album to a major market without a label backing you 40 years ago. Now the music world is getting better, because they have to put out a good quality product. If they don’t, they fail. What Bon Jovi is really lamenting is the emergence of the truly free market in music. Where consumers have choices about what they buy and whom they buy it from. If I don’t want to buy music from iTunes, then I can buy it from Amazon, if not Amazon, then I can buy music directly from the artist. Bon Jovi, you are the buggy whip maker crying over the automobile, welcome to the future.
Mycc
What a stupid thing to say!!! I can’t believe a person like Bon Jovi…reflects a huge lack of culture by saying that,,, shame on him
Wcdomiboy
Yeah the music business was a beauty before he touched it. There was no piracy and every artist had a chance in the music business get their music’s worth. You paid $15 dollars and you liked every damn song in that album, not to mention the pretty pictures. Please, lets be real…. Bon Jovi owes Steve Jobs an apology…

Anonymous
Funny you mention the artists. Cause they are sometimes the biggest victim’s of the labels. According to the reports, artists often get as little as pennies on album sales.
Seems the real danger with itunes is to the labels. If artists can submit and sell directly and be their own label then they get the money. No more need for record labels etc.

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Rogers/100000005173454 James Rogers
I like your music Bon Jovi, but only a couple of songs. You need to shut up and sit down, people don’t buy your records to listen to your opinions. I for one am glad we’re passed the days of buying a whole album to get one or two songs worth listening to.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XYOU7CCYCG7H34HCDN5O7HYYSQ Fred Haan
Amen!

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OMI3MUUB4LLANGT32IPYCXHAI4 Sean
Steve Jobs invented digital music? Who knew?

SavedByTechnology
I thought it was Al Gore. Oh wait, that was something else ;)
SavedByTechnology
I thought it was Al Gore. Oh wait, that was something else ;)

Anonymous
Bon Jovi is doing what everyone with an agenda does: Hiding the real reasons for the way they feel, and pushing what they think will be the most effective angle to convert the masses. Music today is awesome for listeners. Who does it suck for? MUSICIANS. Especially big-name musicians with lots of money to lose. So he (along with Metallica and other sellouts) tries to get us to wax nostalgic purely for his own benefit – we might just go out and buy a CD, just for “old time’s sake”. Hopefully his.
Studiovx
I’d have to say Jon Bon Jovi’s got a lot of blood on his hands too for the crap we’ve had to endure from his band!
One could argue his music has been dead for awhile
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=706101528 Dan Miller
You mark my word, 10 years from now people will be saying Bon who?
Anonymous
Radio and the labels are to blame before Jobs is. The labels pushed the notion of the ‘hit single’ to the stations and the stations played around. Then the labels started releasing those singles on LPs, cassettes even CD singles.
THEY created the ‘single’ mindset, not Apple.
close encounters
Is he talking about music or album art?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XYOU7CCYCG7H34HCDN5O7HYYSQ Fred Haan
Earlier, artists were really ticked off about the download problem. Everybody hailed Apple as the solution with iPod, iTunes. Songs started selling again. I think Bon should do the only decent thing and stop peddling his stuff on iTunes. (He probably only made a few million there anyway! Nood need to continue!)
Cr44
music of all types are more accessible because of Jobs, John Bon.
Cr44
music of all types are more accessible because of Jobs, John Bon.
http://stuart-otterson.livejournal.com/ Stuart Otterson
I think Mr Jovi is sadly complaining as an old man and is coming across as a little patronising to young people. If people want to buy full albums great, but if they want to only buy individual tracks than it’s their choice to make, just like it’s their choice if they decide to shuffle songs on random rather than listen to it as a piece of work. That’s freedom of choice and it’s not for any artist to dictate to a listener how they should treat music.
The times have moved on, technology continues to give us freedom. Vinyls were great for their day but I prefer being able to easily choose which track I want to listen to now rather than having to spend time repositioning the needle.
I’m sure Mr Jovi wouldn’t have appreciated his father telling him how he should experience music, so he should relax and let whatever will be, be.
Blay
How many years have we been hearing this? First it was Napster then itunes? Move with technology Jon…its hear to stay stop crying and wasting time….maybe more time in the studio so that you can create a hit this decade.
http://www.facebook.com/lukelefneski Luke Lefneski
He just wishes he sold more albums… ^__^
http://www.facebook.com/people/Don-Trenton/1594613856 Don Trenton
well … these are the most comments I’ve seen on a COM post so I had to add my opinion.
Bon Jovi had a ‘few’ good songs. Party songs that could crank up the mood. I went to his concert at the Pepsi Center in Denver about a year ago. Still fun. But dude – nobody gives a rats ass what you think about shit. Comprende?
We’re just glad we don’t have to buy an entire album full of your shit to get the one good song. Sit down – shut the fuck up – and go count your money or something.
Kiowavt
Was Bon Jovi trolling?
Seriously, I loved albums and covers, but CDs killed that by size, and the $16,99 greedydriven list price (discounted at $12.99 –oh wow!!) killed my urge to buy anything. Along came Napster. Revolt against $16.99 began. Steve Jobs turned that back around, making at least a high percentage of music legally purchased. And, on iTunes, I find I discover added songs I love, or even whole albums worth having, when otherwise I would never have considered anything beyond one tempting song. More likely Steve Jobs saved the music industry from being only file sharing.
Anonymous
I’m 41 and hate it it when other middled aged people complain about “kids today”. Personally, I think there is a lot of great music being made today. You just have to know where to look for it (which is not that hard given the reach of the internet).
Creativity doesn’t change… but people do. Unfortunately nostalgia for the past often blinds people from seeing the positive things about the present.
W.T.Effyall
He forgot to add “Stay off my lawn!”
Waltershelburne
Just like you said Jon, you are getting old. This is one of the best things that could of happened to the music business.
Juju
JOn Bon douche bag is just mad cause now we have the chance to listen to all his bullshit filler and choose not to buy it instead of back in the magical days when we bought the whole lame album based on the cover and his flowing beautiful hair. What a douche bag!!!!
Garemo
Hey Jon, Hate to be yet another example of how wrong you are but alas, were it not for Mr Jobs and iTunes, I may never have rediscovered your music. In college my roommate killed your “Slippery When Wet” CD to the point where I could not stomach it to listen to it anymore. 20 years later I am given the opportunity to download one tune at a time and have since repurchased many of your albums. As one who used to spend hours at The record store to flip through albums, I enjoy flipping through iTunes in the same way. Ironically I own a lot fewer complete albums today with only 1 good song.
Anonymous
He’s an idiot. MP3 sharing killed the Music Industry. Apple just managed to figure a way to shore up and make money off of what is really a dead format.
Jim
I guess the Bon Jovi limited edition iPod won’t be seen any time soon. Not to worry, Jon, maybe it’s not too late to get a Zune deal….ooooh.
Never mind.
stu437
it strikes me that what he is really saying is he misses the days when people bought music based on the person on the cover (good for him) rather than the quality of the music on the album (bad for him) and that he has noticed the pinch in his wallet since people started only buying his good songs rather than the full album price for 10 crap songs and one they want to listen to.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001138444109 Mutis Mayfield
The music no was killed by Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs said to Chuck Norris that the music was inmortal, until now.
Bon Jovi was the cause.
http://twitter.com/nitschi Michael Nitsch
“Bon Jovi Says..”
Stopped reading here!
Rigogibson
I think Jovi needs to sit his soccer mom’d hair-doo ass down and remember that there are 2 things that no one can stop: Tech & Taxes. If not for iTunes it’d be something else, and like others have said, Napster, Limewire, etc, etc. What a tool.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Zampelli/581561970 Michael Zampelli
That’s why I closed Zed Records. I was getting the new releases over the net before the pre-release promos came out, and they were free.
http://twitter.com/peniswomansarse Large John
i tunes is crap,Bon Jovi rock!!!!!
Maryann
I was really shocked the other day when I heard John’s unkind comment. Prior to this, I respected him and his reputation for good works and good music. Well let me tell John something. I live here in Silicon Valley and we all think Steve Jobs is a brilliant genious. He is one of our gifts from God and has made the world a better place; will have a legacy that is incomparable some day. What will be John’s; “Livin on a prayer,” “Wanted dead or alive?” I am one of those older people who, for years, got sucked into $15.99 albums with two hits and we all resented that! Is he going to blame anyone for the fact that most tours lose money today? Greed is bad and you never saw a hearse carrying a U-Haul. Ticket prices are atrocious and we don’t want to pay those prices for these musicians to live the high life. John, if you are so damn opinionated and smart, why don’t you come up with an idea to “bring the music business back to life?” In the meantime, stop whining!
Daddyrock
Albums were never $15.99….
Oh wait, they are now
Gthang91582
This ignores the unexplained fact that vinyl sales have been dramatically increasing every year over the past decade. Mostly because people can now buy the vinyl (a physical artifact of the music) and then get a free digital download of the record. It’s the best of both worlds
Monica della Torre
Jon Bon Jovi is being the stupids. LPs were already dead by the time iTunes was introduced. Digital CDs, DVDs, generic MP3 Players, and MP3 Piracy were already well established before iTunes was introduced.

About the author

Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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