Portishead Industry Rant

Barrow speaks out on the pricing of music

12 June 2008 - Portishead’s producer and instrumentalist Geoff Barrow has spoken out about his disillusionment with the music industry ripping fans off.

In a recent interview Barrow discussed how the music industry benefited from high CD prices for so long - before bands that gave away their music for nothing and the downloading revolution, sent it into tailspin.

He said: "I think the music industry ripped the consumer off for so many years, making 16 pounds an album. CDs were up to 16 quid (pounds) (32 US dollars) at one point. It was wrong."

However, he was realistic in his opinion that the recent wave of free music will not have longevity for the industry, saying:

"You have to put some value in music. The industry won't exist if you give it away for free. A fiver is a good price for an album I think."

"I think the music industry ripped the consumer off for so many years, making 16 pounds an album."
Geoff Barrow

Their new album Third is the band’s first after their decade long hiatus.

Marking the end of Portishead’s contract with Island Records, Barrows also confirmed that they would not follow in Radiohead’s footsteps, who made the radical move of giving away their album In Rainbows for free online.

Barrows also revealed that their uneasiness with today’s society - modern day worries such as the global credit crunch, an untrustworthy Government and news media - is reflected in the new material’s harsher sound.

Appalled at aspects of society, he explained: "I think we ought to talk about the veneer of life.

"This varnish that everyone's forced to spend money they haven't got, everybody's supposed to look a certain way, human conditioning, news media, just the way that everything is supposed to think and look a certain way."

And Barrows went on to express his mistrust of media figures, saying:

"I don't see any truth in any of it. There's very few people that I believe when they open their mouths, especially on TV or radio, personally I don't think there's anyone I can rely on to speak any truth."

Georgie Rogers