- Music
- 25 Nov 15
Guitar whizz John Frusciante lives up to the motto of Red Hot Chilli Pepper's 'give it away now'.
Previously being reluctant to engage in having an online presence, Frusciante has recently joined both Soundcloud and Bandcamp and has set about releasing music outside of the demands of the record label.
Speaking on his website, Frusciante stated, "When someone releases music on a label, they are selling it, not giving it. Art is a matter of giving. If I sing my friend a song, it goes from me to her, at no cost. That’s giving. If I sell you an object, we do not say that I gave you that object. Recording artists have been “giving” the public music by selling it to them for so long that we now think of sell-outs as dedicated musicians who love their audience so much that they aggressively sell them products, and sell themselves as an image and personality to this audience on a regular basis just as aggressively. Sell-outs is an antiquated term which, when I was a kid, referred to artists who love making money more than they love making music. The word indicated a lack of artistic integrity. Sell-outs suck, in my opinion."
He continued, "Giving people music for free online being so common these days is a good reminder that artistic expression is always a matter of giving, not taking, or selling. Selling is the making money part, and artistic expression, creation, is the giving part. They are distinct from one another, and it is my conviction that music should always be made because one loves music, regardless of whether one plans on selling it or not."
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In an eloquently written piece on his website, Frusciante explores the relationship between himself and his audience and the changing nature of the music industry due to the effects of music sharing sites.
You can listen to recently released tracks below.