THIN LIZZY Guitarist Says Illegal Music Downloading Is Killing Bands' Careers

March 7, 2009

Legendary THIN LIZZY star Scott Gorham has slammed music "fans" who download albums illegally, claiming that bands will be forced to split due to reduced revenues.

The guitarist told U.K. rock site Rushonrock.com that musicians are reaching the point where falling physical sales and illegal file-sharing means they can no longer make a living.

"I just feel the whole download trend is capable of really damaging the music I love," Gorham said. "Suddenly musicians and bands have no control over who can get hold of their music and often there’s no financial return.

"There's this misconception that rock stars spend all their royalties on Ferraris and big houses with swimming pools. But the majority of us are just regular guys who want to buy the kids a new pair of shoes or go on a holiday from time to time. And we need an income like the next man. A lot of good bands won't be able to afford to do this for much longer if illegal downloads continue at such a pace. For me, LIZZY is my regular day job and I have to pay the bills.

"I really hope a new regulatory system comes into place sooner or later."

Read the complete interview on Rushonrock.com.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).