News »
Gigwise RSS Feeds Bookmark and Share

Sufjan Stevens: 'What's The Point Of Making Music Any More?'

He bemoans the state of the music industry...

Share

Sufjan Stevens has questioned the point of making music, saying albums are obsolete and songs are beyond him.

Speaking to Exclaim Magazine, the 34-year-old indie icon admitted he was in the midst of an “existential crisis” and went on to bemoan the state of music.

He said: "I definitely feel like, 'What is the point? What's the point of making music any more?'

“I feel that the album no longer has a stronghold or has any real bearing any more. The physical format is obsolete; the CD is obsolete and the LP is kinda nostalgic. So, I think the album is suffering and that's how I've always created – I work with these conceptual albums in the long-form.

“And I'm wondering, what's the value of my work once these forms are obsolete and everyone's just downloading music?"

Reflecting on his own musical output, which has seen him release a string of concept albums of sorts, Stevens continued: "I'm starting to get sick of my conceptual ideas.

"I'm tired of these grand, epic endeavours and wanting to just make music for the joy of making music and having it be immediate and nothing to do with the industry itself."

Seemingly at his lowest ebb, Stevens added: "What am I doing? What's the point of a song? Is a song antiquated? The format itself – a narrative song with accompaniment – is really beyond me now."
(3)
  • The album is a pretty recent invention really. Before that we had 45s, 78s, sheet music, the oral tradition. I think that's what we're going back to - people enjoying a song because it tells a story they can share and re-tell around the campfire in a post eco-apocalyptic world. Good songs will never die.

    ~ by The Yak 10/14/2009

    Reply to this comment View 1 Reply

  • He's not up his own arse at all, is he?

    ~ by BritSwedeGuy 10/14/2009

    Reply to this comment


     characters left [+]  


    Register now and have your comments approved automatically!

    • This is mad- Lady Gaga Makes $167 From 1million Plays On Spotify: A Swedish report suggests... http://bit.ly/4ZYtYw (via @Gigwise)
      martinontwitter on Mon Nov 23 17:39:52 via Tweetie
    • I call bullshit. RT: @Gigwise: Lady Gaga Makes $167 From 1million Plays On Spotify: A Swedish report suggests... http://bit.ly/4ZYtYw
      musicaltwit on Mon Nov 23 17:35:13 via Echofon
    • RT @laurastrong1985: RT @Gigwise U2 To Headline Friday Night Of Glastonbury 2010: It's reported today... Haha unlucky!
      Garyt2 on Mon Nov 23 17:02:59 via TwiXtreme
    • RT @Gigwise: Local Natives Unveil 2010 UK Tour Dates: They play next February and March... http://bit.ly/08MQQez
      followchopsy on Mon Nov 23 14:54:02 via Tweetie
    • @XLRECORDINGS well @Gigwise gave you #1 spot! :http://www.gigwise.com/photos/52489/50/The-50-Greatest-Albums-of-the-2000s
      Gigwise on Mon Nov 23 13:00:41 via web
    Artist A-Z   # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z