Manic Street Preachers: Radiohead Ruining Music

by on December 7, 2007 with 50 Comments in Radiohead News

Manic Street Preachers have controversially slammed Radiohead for “demeaning” the music by releasing their album ‘In Rainbows’ as a ‘pay what you want’ download.

The ever outspoken Nicky Wire from the Welsh trio believes that by allowing fans to decide their own price, such a move could have serious reverberations in the music industry.

Wire said: “Fair play to Radiohead for doing something different. It’s certainly great publicity but I think it kind of demeans music. “Music used to be a market, now it’s all gone digital. It’s worrying and it seems to be the way of the world at the moment. Sales are doing well everywhere else. Cinema is doing well, video games are doing well but music isn’t. The free download phenomenon is ruining the industry.”

Continuing his rant, and totally unrelated to Radiohead, Wire turned is attention the way in which reality TV is saturating society. He told the Daily Star: “I can’t bare the X Factor judges and the shit they put out every year. It’s just a load of untalented fuckwits that destroy the music industry.” [thx gigwise]


Radiohead news on this day..


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  • http://myspace.com/priyahp Priya

    he makes a valid point towards the end. hope he’s not on drugs again is he?

  • spinningPlates

    He is indeed right about the X factor and
    and Idols programs…

  • Adam

    Nicky wire is a washed up twat, he just
    rants like that to get press,even
    if he doesn’t believe it. It’s a shame
    the manics have slid, so much. He just
    sounds like an old bastard.

  • http://worriedaboutnothing.blogspot.com worriedaboutnothing

    ruined industry doesnt sound so bad.

  • insect in the Night

    Aww..he’s just bitter because:
    a. he didn’t do it first
    b. he’s still under contract.

    Shame.

  • hpgirl

    these RH bashings are sounding all the same, and are getting pretty funny…i think it’s all just nonsense.

  • huntaaar

    The manics have gone wank.

  • Graham

    Jealousy.

  • Ethan

    Who are Manic Street Preachers, again?

  • Mark

    I saw them live in the summer and it’s their bassist that’s ruining music…look like some prat from a kiss cover band

  • T

    I think it’s the less established acts that are feeling insecure about the “pay what you want” model. I have never heard of this band before.

  • anodyne

    Oh sure, RH are ruining music, some crap TV program is ruining music, who to blame next.

    Perhaps he should just admit that the music industry has done its best to ruin music since the start of the 90s.

    And it would help if he’d actually made some good music of late.

  • rob

    “you’re love alone is not enough!!!!!”
    what was that about demeaning music?!?!
    lol

    “i am all the days that you choose to ignore.”

  • Craig

    I’m sure a couple of years ago they released a free download single?? could be wrong.

  • ali

    i don’t think people buy albums at random anymore, you have to be a fan to buy cds.. RH just made a move to attract non-fans/casual downloaders on their pages and got the chance to know something more about the “radiohead experience”.. Something you don’t get on rapidshare sites or p2p.. We download so much stuff we don’t even know how musicians look like, unless we see them in concerts.. they moved the “customer fidelity” from iTunes to themselves.. Does this demeans music?

  • http://www.whoisskillen.co.uk Stevie K

    Christ, I didn’t even like the Manics in the days they were supposed to be good. Shame he didn’t go and do what his best mate Richie did. Then he might’ve been considered more than the outspoken talentless one.

    Oh and T, I think you can describe the Manics as establised. So much so they in now in U2 MOR territory.

  • scott

    jesus, someone criticizes the band and, like always, everyone gets all pissy. dude didn’t come CLOSE to “slamming” the decision, he said “fair play” and was logical and not at all nasty about it. please guys, radiohead don’t need you to defend them, it’s pretty embarrassing

  • bearsmearsh

    “The free download phenomenon is ruining the industry.”

    WTF? Only a few days ago The Manics released a new holiday single on their website. Free of charge of course…

  • Rich Kerrigan

    what a fucktard.

    the music industry shot ITSELF in the foot with the way it embraced ‘digital’, nobody else.

    Radiohead are kings.

  • http://www.sebimeyer.com sebimeyer

    “music used to be a market.” not THAT is demeaning to music.

  • MilkMan

    anybody else feel that music isn’t about ‘industry’ but rather expression?

  • This Guy

    Who?

  • http://www.khristopher.com Khristopher

    Did they ever top to think that maybe the first album that was sold in this world is the reason music was “ruined”?

  • J

    tbh the industry has ruined music already by commercialising everything too much, radiohead are jsut taking an original idea and seeing what happens. they can do what they bloody want theyr just getting their art to as many people as possible as quickly and easy as possible

  • J

    and i totally agree with milkman a few above

  • dseidman

    waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!

  • j

    The music industry needs ruining. He fails to see this. And, once again, Radiohead has no responsibility to other musicians or the industry. Who’s fault is it if you lose out? Only yours.

  • Sunny

    the only way for bands/artists to survive in the age of free music download is to create a loyal fanbase who will buy their albums, and to constantly put out great music, of course. when you start producing unlistenable shite – good riddance, get a day job. simple as that.

  • performingmonkey

    They just released a Christmas single as a free download. It’s quite good, I’ve always liked the Manics. Nicky obviously hasn’t bothered to look into the In Rainbows download situation enough to realise that all RH were doing is putting a leak out themselves.

  • starrybloke

    He’s an idiot. The only reason free downloads are ruining the industry is because people are stealing music they’d otherwise buy, which decreases profits for record companies and bands. But if a band doesn’t have a record label and chooses to give their music away, what difference does it make? It only effects Radiohead financially.

  • Jelle

    Film is NOT running well.

  • stu

    Oh shut up and stop preaching.

  • http://www.myspace.com/elitebanda imatumbler

    as if like the music industry was all fine before in rainbows

    quit bitching about it, its been happening for years

  • http://www.seaholm.com Yickth Woovle

    “Music used to be a market… ”
    Uh, music used to not not be a market.
    “… now it’s all gone digital.”
    Music hasn’t ‘gone’ anything. Digital is a medium, not music. Music exists in my shower, for bleep-sake (and that is a bit demeaning to be sure).

  • http://www.indigae.com/ indigae

    what is the opinion of a manic street preachers member worth?

    …BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS.

    to be fair, all of my experience with them has been seeing their shitty cover art in my store and thinking “wow. what an unanswered call for my attention that’ll turn out to be.” and i was right.

  • http://www.indigae.com/ indigae

    also, since when is “market” a valuable term in music? sure, digital compression has given us hundreds of thousands of shitty myspace bands that should never be heard by anyone, but it also gives us an edge around the market that wire is for some odd fucking reason lamenting here. in rainbows is the top release of the year in my ears, and its debut was not “in the market.” that is a GOOD thing.

    who’s going to pay for a manic street preachers album these days, anyway? cock.

    *end bitchfest*

  • Waynoid

    People always talking about this “market”, this “industry”?! Whatever happen to ART?!

  • Your Mom

    Go suck a dong Nicky,

    This is just the shake up the music industry needs. Keep up with progressive bands or get the fuck out of the way!

  • Massive_Bereavement

    Is this the same twat who famously said he hoped Michael Stipe would die of AIDS?

    Nuff said.

    Cunt.

  • http://www.livinginpanama.com Richey Edwards

    Peek-a-boo!!

    You’re the reason I disappeared you annoying cunt.

  • http://www.driveblind.net Jerad

    Umm, this from the “subversive” Manics? I wonder what Nicky Wire of 15 years ago would have to say to someone who said that “music is a market.”

  • svart

    music wasn’t an industry; technology made the industry possible; now tech makes the industry redundant… so what!?

  • eraserhead

    i thought you were meant to be a communist nicky wire? fuck off you clown

  • http://hedmekania.blogspot.com hedmekanik

    Twat. Get a clue – and some decent tunes. Hardl;y surprising it’s all sour grapes, when they’re falling off the map.
    Manic Street Who?

  • Yep.

    You are all ignoring the fact Nicky Wire said “Fair play to Radiohead…” How can Nicky Wire be jealous of Radiohead when Radiohead were not the first band to make their album available for free download? And Nicky Wire isn’t Communist… at least get your facts correct before commenting.

  • eraserhead

    hmm maybe not, he is a fucking clown though. big clown tosser who cant write songs, or for that matter, actually play an instrument, hed be better off in a circus, id happily through a peanut.

  • eraserhead

    sorry i meant ‘throw’. throw a peanut at the silly clown.

  • The Suburbanite

    scott and Yep are pretty much the only
    two people who have made sensible
    comments here. Shame on atease for its
    shit-stirring tabloid-style headline:
    it’s not the “Manics slamming” Radiohead,
    it’s ONE of them saying fair enough they’ve
    done something different, but he’s not
    sure he likes the direction music downloads
    are going in. That’s all… but of course
    the whingers here go into a juvenile
    lather about it, as usual.

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  • Enola

    come on nicky wire, you’re marxist!! but I love the manics anyway