David Byrne tells it like it is

Xeni Jardin interviews David Byrne (from the Talking Heads) on the debut of his new Internet radio station (also in iTunes radio section under Radio David Byrne).

XJ: How do you feel about the fact that some of your fans are downloading your music for free?

David Byrne: It's a mixed bag. Sure, I would love to have compensation for that. But the argument of record companies standing up for artists rights is such a load of hooey. Most artists see nothing from record sales -- it's not an evil conspiracy, it's just the way the accounting works. That's the way major record labels are set up, from a purely pragmatic point of view. So as far as the artist goes -- who cares? I don't see much money from record sales anway, so I don't really care how people are getting it.

Anybody who has Gilberto Gil, Miles Davis, and Moby Grape in the same playlist is going to gain my ear!