Kevin Parker, the driving force behind prog-rock phenomenon Tame Impala, gave an extensive interview with Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC6. Delving into a complicated subject, the value of recorded music, Parker’s talks at length about how illegal downloading isn’t really all that big of a deal.
He says, “I used to download music illegally. Everyone has. No one is innocent. Everyone has done that. If someone says, ‘Hey man, I love your album, it really got me through a breakup, but I downloaded it for free,’ I’ll be like, ‘Good! That’s good!’ Maybe he didn’t have the money for the album, but if he still listened to it and it’s an important part of his life, that’s all I can ask for. I don’t want his twenty bucks.”
Listen To Tame Impala’s Hand-Picked Bedtime Playlist
While the executive board of TIDAL would disagree, Parker’s answers are certainly genuine. “There’s all this talk of music needing a monetary value, this ownership of music, even that it needs a physical form. But intrinsically… it’s MUSIC, it should be better than that… Some of my most important musical experiences were from a burnt CD with songs my friend downloaded for me at a terrible digital quality… I didn’t care… it changed my life all the same. For me the value of music is the value you extract from it.”
He later added, “If you do something good or if you make good art or make good stuff, the wealth will find you in some way.”
Tame Impala Releases Mind-Blowing ‘Let It Happen’ Video
There are certainly merits to Parker’s arguments, though it’s easy for him to say from the position of a successful musician. The band’s new album, Currents, has been met with critical acclaim since its release earlier this year. Read the L4LM review here.
You can listen to the full interview here: