YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Says 'Anybody Can Make A Record Or Video' Now: 'It Diluted Everything'

In a new interview with Jordi Pinyol, legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen spoke about how the music industry has changed in the four decades since he launched his career as a professional musician. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The industry itself, it's not a pretty thing. But the truth of the matter is that the recording industry was existing on one premise in the '70s and '80s, whatever, for the longest time until today, and it was the record labels wanted to make money. It's like any company — they make a product and they wanna sell it. So therefore, if there was a certain band or certain trend that came up, they would go, 'Oh, let's find the next one.' 'Let's find the next one.' 'Let's find the next one.' They would sign bands and acts every week. And it became like a puppy mill of this where the quality was maybe not the greatest all the time. There would be an originator and then there'd be a lot of copies, and then there'd be an originator… And I'm not talking about me or guitar; I'm talking about styles. When the grunge [movement] came out, it was NIRVANA who started it, and then it was a million grunge bands that I don't even know the names for. Or the glam thing, for instance, POISON or whatever, when that happened, they had 15, 20 other bands on MTV every day that that would sound and look the same. And then that went out of style. And the reason this was happening was because they knew what would sell. There was a format. Everything was a format. You have a format on the radio, you have a format on MTV, you know — that's it. And then if that changes, you change the acts that you sign in order to make money. Now the rug was pulled out under this because the product doesn't exist. Why would you spend money on trying to sell something that doesn't exist? There's no record stores, there's no records. It's not a product anymore. It's a streaming subscription that you can never make the kind of money that was made in the '80s; you can never do that. So, that is also a reflection of what happened with all the guitar players that came up because they saw, 'Oh, this Malmsteen guy, he's doing really well. Let's get a bunch of other guys and try to make money with them too.' Same thing with any band, like BON JOVI or whatever. When they made it big, they made a hundred bands that sounded and looked the same as them. That's just the way it was then. I was there. I didn't read it in a book. I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. I navigated through that whole thing and stayed pretty much on my own course, but that's what happened there."

Yngwie continued: "Today, there's no huge record company offices with local reps in every town. They don't do that anymore, because there's no record chains, there's no system. Of course, there is some — very small — but I'm talking about when it was the thing to do. [Back then English billionaire investor] Richard Branson said, 'I wanna make money. I'll start a record label.' Today you start record label 'cause you love music — maybe — not to make money. So now with YouTube and so on, anybody could make a record, anybody could make a video and so on. So it diluted everything. There's no impact. Nothing has impact."

Malmsteen added: "If you go even back further, 1964, THE BEATLES came to America. They did one TV show and they were the biggest band in the world because there was two TV channels. If they came and they did the same thing today, on YouTube today, nobody would give a shit. That is what's happening then and this is what's happening now. So something needs to be done about that. And I don't know what… I mean there is a revival in vinyl.

"When I was a kid, you went on the tube, you went to the store, you bought a record, you took it home, you opened it up, you played it on the record player, and you listened and you looked at the pictures. It was a big event. Not anymore. It doesn't exist. It's not, like, 'Oh, yeah, I'm making a record.' Yeah, but where's the record chain? Where's the store? There isn't any. That's what's happening."

Yngwie released a new live album, "Tokyo Live", in April via Music Theories Recordings. The concert was recorded at the Zepp DiverCity, Tokyo on May 11, 2024 as part of Yngwie's 40th-anniversary world tour.

Malmsteen's breathtaking technique takes center stage of the 100-minute concert while being cocooned by exquisite musicianship throughout. The setlist tracks Malmsteen's illustrious career, from "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and "Evil Eye" and through his remarkable solo career with "Rising Force", "Far Beyond The Sun", "Arpeggios From Hell" and "Seventh Sign" all the way up to his most recent material taken from 2021's "Parabellum", with "Wolves At The Door", "Relentless Fury", "(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum", not to mention rousing renditions of "Paganini's 4th" and "Smoke On The Water".

Only four of the songs on "Parabellum" featured vocals. The album title is Latin, translating as "Prepare For War".

After working with some of the top hard singers of the past four decades, Yngwie now handles much of the lead vocals himself in his own band, backed by a lineup that includes keyboardist Nick Marino, bassist Emilio Martinez and drummer Kevin Klingenschmid.

The name of Yngwie Malmsteen has always stood for uncompromising excellence. In a career that now spans more than 40 years he has proven himself to be a unique artist. You can try to categorize him in any way you wish. But the manner in which this supreme Swedish craftsman has continually developed his music makes Malmsteen sublimely transcend any definition you attempt to impose.

He now has a catalogue of 22 solo studio albums, each of which has much to commend. Malmsteen's artistry has always clearly incorporated a healthy virtuosity, but his talent goes well beyond a comprehensive control of the guitar. The man is a fine composer and, on recent releases, has also showcased a strong vocal presence and now, with only this fifth live release, it captures four decades of relentless fury and blissful artistry of one of the true greats.