Neil Young wants to preserve the sound quality of current rock recordings – and he believes he had an ally in the late Steve Jobs.
“My goal is to try and rescue the art form that I’ve been practicing for the past 50 years,” Young said during a panel discussion at a media conference in California. “We live in the digital age and, unfortunately, it’s degrading our music, not improving it.” “Steve Jobs [was] a pioneer of digital music, and his legacy is tremendous,” Young said. “But when he went home, he listened to vinyl. And you’ve got to believe that if he’d lived long enough, he would have done what I’m trying to do.”
Neil also said: “It’s not that digital is bad or inferior, it’s that the way it’s being used isn’t doing justice to the art . . . The convenience of the digital age has forced people to choose between quality and convenience, but they shouldn’t have to make that choice.”
Surprisingly, Young revealed that he has no apprehension about illegal fire-sharing. He says: “Piracy is the new radio,” he said. “That’s how music gets around.”
