Bon Jovi Blames Steve Jobs for “Killing the Music Business”

The musician blasts the Apple CEO for ruining the music-buying experience

If you download "Livin' on a Prayer" from iTunes, you are killing music. Says who? How about Jon Bon Jovi?

The Jersey-born musician tells Toronto's Sunday Times magazine that downloading music and playing digital files on an iPod ruins a key element of the music experience.

(Warning: Yes, the 49-year-old rocker actually does begin his statement with "Kids today...")

"Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket," he says. "Closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it"

He then reveals the master criminal who is killing the dreams of children: None other than Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

"You mark my words, in a generation from now people are going to say: 'What happened?' Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business."

This hasn't stopped Bon Jovi from releasing exclusive iTunes versions of some of their albums that feature bonus songs and content, however. And videos. And iPhone apps. And podcasts...

Selected Reading: Toronto Sun, Huffington Post, PC Magazine

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