Steven Wilson says music has lost its power: “Music has slipped down the list of things that matter to young people.”
The Porcupine Tree frontman had a lot to say on the matter of mainstream music in 2022.
Image: Guy Prives / Getty
Steven Wilson has given another take on the music industry today, explaining how he feels music has lost some of its power.
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As the founding member of Porcupine Tree, Wilson has over 30 years of insider insight into the music industry. In an interview with Rob Moore on YouTube, he spoke of his opinion on why he believes “Music has slipped down the list of things that matter to young people.”
On the topic of mainstream and pop music, he argued why he thinks it doesn’t have the same effect anymore: “Music, in that sense, has become more about what’s familiar, not what might have been unfamiliar when the Beatles released Strawberry Fields, or when Bowie came out with Ziggy or when Prince came out with Sign O’ the Times. And that obviously makes me a bit sad because I grew up believing in the power of music to be able to do that – to change the way people thought about the world,” He said.
“Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the most ridiculously avant-garde experimental, ambitious pieces of pop music to ever get to number one in the charts. Not only did it get to number one, it got to number one for a million weeks. Of course, it is possible. Is it still possible, now? In 2022? I would love to be proved wrong, but I don’t think so.”
Overall, Wilson stated he feels that being an artist today is more about making “content” rather than “music”, calling it “a horrible and ugly idea”.
When speaking about rock and grunge however, he felt that Nirvana were the last band who really had the power to bring about cultural change and influence the way people thought about rock music and how they dressed.
You can watch the full interview below to hear more: