by mk

As a prolific seller of records once upon a time, Lewis is naturally perturbed by this. "American popular music is our only art form. It's our most important export, period. And since time began, it's been handled not as an art form but as a commodity. I mean, all records are the same price. Books are different prices, paintings are different prices, wine is different prices, but all music is the same fucking price. And why? Because the executives in charge of the business are not real businesspeople. They didn't go to business school, they don't have a business vision. 'He just managed a band that sold 8 million records. So let's put him in charge.'"

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"I think everybody's screwed by that," Lewis says. "[In the past] music was integrated, but society was segregated. Today, society is integrated, but music is segregated. And that's not a good thing. Information is segregated. If you're a right-winger, you know there's a bunch of shows you can watch where nobody disagrees with you. If you're a left-winger, there are other shows, nobody disagrees with you. Not healthy. Not good."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6uEMOeDZsA