Former Smiths guitarist and now full time member of The Cribs Johnny Marr has given a lecture in which he claimed the music industry has never created anything of value.
The guitar slinger has been busy of late, splitting his time between Modest Mouse and The Cribs as well as helping curate the new retrospective ‘The Sound Of The Smiths’. The musician was invited by Salford University to address students and fans as well as a visiting professor of music.
Not wasting his words, Marr stated that “I am not a cynic. I am not really down on the British music industry. However, it has never created anything in its history.”
He continued “it never invented anything, although it has done plenty of good things, like good records, but nothing has ever been created of value by the British or American music industries… People out of necessity, rejection or frustration, with talent and vision built their own ark and sailed it alongside the music industry”.
The lecture, called ‘Always From The Outside: Mavericks, Innovators And Building Your Own Ark’ will be the first in a proposed five year residency at the university.
