Olly Alexander thinks the music industry is using a “very antiquated” business model.
Olly Alexander thinks the music industry has “not kept pace with the times”.
The 34-year-old star – who is best-known as the lead singer of Years and Years – feels the music industry is using a “very antiquated” business model.
He told the BBC: “A lot of the reason I think the industry has changed so much is that it’s set on this model which is very antiquated now, and it’s not kept pace with the times.
“Lots of artists have this direct link with their audience via social media. They want their music out quickly. The whole model of promoting it – three singles into an album, then you tour the album, then move onto the next one – it’s not really working like it did.”
Olly observed that record labels used to be able to make an album successful by pouring “a lot of money into something”.
He continued: “They just can’t do that now. Everything has changed. But I think that is exciting for lots of reasons, and it is an exciting place for artists, even though it’s harder to break through.”
Olly is currently focusing on his acting career. However, if he does decide to return to the music business, he won’t allow himself to be dictated to by record executives.
The ‘Sanctify’ hitmaker explained: “If I go back into it, it’ll be because I think it’s fun and something I want to do, and not think too much about how it’s going to perform.
“That’s pretty much how I try to always feel, but you’re in an environment where you have a lot of other stakeholders, and people telling you it needs to be this or that, and there’s always that tension.”
Olly recently parted ways with his record label, and is set to star in London’s West End later this year, when he’ll appear in the National Theatre’s production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’.
Looking forward to the challenge, Olly said: “I’d recently been thinking that I’d love to act again.
“I’d come to the end of my record contract, and I have a bit more breathing space to try a few different things and not feel, oh, well I have to deliver an album to my record label.”
Olly Alexander bemoans music industry’s ‘antiquated’ approach
